Amid woes, Berlusconi expands role

ROME - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is expanding his presence on the world stage leading into next week’s Group of Eight summit with a flurry of diplomacy aimed, at least in part, at diverting attention from the starlet scandal that has engulfed him at home.

The end result? A poll published yesterday showed Berlusconi’s popularity had dipped only 2 statistically insignificant percentage points in recent weeks - from 51 percent to 49 percent - and the prime minister chalked up a major diplomatic victory by helping thaw NATO-Russia tensions.

“Despite everything, Berlusconi continues to enjoy the trust of a good half of Italians,’’ pollster Renato Mannheimer wrote in the Corriere della Sera newspaper, disputing media speculation that Berlusconi’s days were numbered.

Berlusconi showed up at the last minute Saturday at a meeting in Corfu, Greece, of foreign ministers of the NATO-Russia Council - the only head of government there other than the host, Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis of Greece.

It was a well-timed distraction as Berlusconi battles allegations he partied with prostitutes at his homes. It also won him praise from Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov of Russia and gave him a prominent forum before the July 8-10 G-8 summit in Italy.

Lavrov said it was “very important’’ that Berlusconi had taken personal responsibility for helping NATO and Russia resume military ties that were frozen after Russia’s war with Georgia.

The visit, just two weeks after Berlusconi enjoyed a two-hour White House meeting with President Obama, also earned Berlusconi a half-hour phone call with the Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, during which the Russian leader expressed a desire to resume full collaboration with NATO, Berlusconi said.