ITALY: Who's up for a night at the opera? Not, apparently, Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who last night declined to attend a much-hyped performance of Bizet's Carmen in Verona's ancient Roman Arena.
Mr Berlusconi had been scheduled to attend the opera in the company of both German Chancellor Gerhard Schröder and European Commission President Romano Prodi. The evening was to have presented the perfect opportunity to put a symbolic end to the Italo-German tensions prompted by Mr Berlusconi's Nazi-jibe at German socialist MEP Martin Schulz in the Strasbourg parliament last month.
The idea for the night out at the opera had been Mr Prodi's and it was he who had issued an invitation to the Chancellor shortly after the Schulz incident.
As Carmen and José fall in love, the misunderstandings which apparently prompted the Chancellor to forgo his annual Italian holiday at Pesaro would simply fade away.
Forgotten, too, would be the subsequent ill-considered remarks by junior minister for tourism, Stefano Stefani, who had suggested that German tourists might require an intelligence test and who was later forced to resign.
However, just like Carmen itself, which hardly ends well, the concept of a reconciliatory evening in the Verona evening air went belly-up yesterday afternoon when Mr Berlusconi opted not to attend.
A note issued by his office last night explained that he was concerned lest a group of "provocatory protesters" ruin the evening and that "out of fondness and consideration" for the opera, he would decline to attend.
In truth, Mr Berlusconi had every reason to fear a protest. Members of Italy's No-Global movement, as well as of Rifondazione Communista, an extreme leftist party, had promised him a noisy and less than respectful reception.
Although security measures in place both outside and inside the Verona venue had made it unlikely that protesters would get close to Mr Berlusconi, he apparently decided the risk was not worth the Carmen.