Italy's Berlusconi mulls nationalising loss-making Alitalia

AFP, April, 2008

MILAN (AFP) — Prime minister-elect Silvio Berlusconi on Tuesday floated the idea of nationalising Alitalia instead of selling off the state's 49.9 percent share in the loss-making airline, media reports said.

"We are going ahead (looking for) stakeholders ... (but) we may decide for the state to acquire Alitalia through the Ferrovie dello Stato," he told reporters outside parliament, referring to the national railway.

Berlusconi, who made the fate of Alitalia a central campaign issue ahead of the elections he won two weeks ago, also took a swipe at the European Commission, which has asked for details of a planned state loan of 300 million euros (480 million dollars) to the airline.

"I have acted with respect for the EU," he said, adding that he would...