“Naturally, no,” he responded. “I have never understood what satisfaction there is if not in the pleasure of conquest.”
“There is nothing in my private life for which I should apologize,” Mr. Berlusconi added, according to a copy of the interview sent by the magazine to reporters on Tuesday in an e-mail message.
Mr. Berlusconi, 72, has been under fire over the past several months, when his wifeaccused him of consorting with very young women, including one whose 18th-birthday party he attended in Naples in April.
Speculation about the nature of Mr. Berlusconi’s relationship with the 18-year-old, Noemi Letizia, dominated the national conversation before elections for the European Parliamentthis month, which the prime minister’s center-right coalition won, though with a smaller margin than anticipated.
Mr. Berlusconi’s charismatic persona — as much showman as statesman — has always been a central part of his appeal. And Italians are generally forgiving of personal lives that would topple politicians elsewhere.
But in recent days, a new scandal has erupted as three women said that they were paid to attend parties at Mr. Berlusconi’s official Rome residence and that they were given jewelry. The depiction of the prime minister’s residence as a kind of Playboy Mansion with spotty security has shifted the public mood in Italy.
Although Mr. Berlusconi governs virtually unopposed, because of the collapse of the country’s left and his popular support among Italians, some analysts say they believe that the questions about his personal life could start depleting his political capital.
The more he is depicted as morally compromised, the harder it will be for him to govern, they say. “He could face a war of attrition,” said Stefano Folli, a columnist for the financial newspaper Il Sole 24 Ore. The simmering scandal is “a point of political weakness,” he said, adding, “It poses greater difficulty for governing even his allies.”
Members of Mr. Berlusconi’s center-right coalition have not leapt to his defense. And the Catholic Church has been more insistent in its criticism.
L’Avvenire, a newspaper published by the Italian Bishops Conference, said Friday that given the “growing unease” about Mr. Berlusconi’s personal life, it was necessary “to arrive as quickly as possible at a sufficient clarification.”
One of the women who said they were paid to attend parties at the prime minister’s residence, Patrizia D’Addario, told the newspaper Corriere della Sera last week that she had visited the residence several times, and that Mr. Berlusconi asked her to spend the night once. She said she tape-recorded her visits and also took some photographs.
The link between Mr. Berlusconi and Ms. D’Addario emerged from a corruption investigation into a businessman from Bari who was said to have introduced them.
In his interview with Chi, Mr. Berlusconi said he did not recall the three women who said they were paid to attend the parties.
“I meet dozens and dozens of people,” he said. “I don’t want to offend anyone, but it’s evident that I can’t remember everyone.”
Mr. Berlusconi said that he thought the left was behind the investigation of the businessman and that it was trying to tarnish his image before Italy was scheduled to hostPresident Obama and other world leaders at the Group of 8 summit meeting from July 8 to 10. The meeting will be held in L’Aquila, the city devastated by an April 6 earthquakethat killed nearly 300 people and left 65,000 homeless.
The earthquake dominated headlines for only a few weeks before Mr. Berlusconi’s wife, Veronica Lario, said she wanted a divorce. Mr. Berlusconi told Chi he did not believe that reconciliation was possible.
“It was a deep wound,” he said. “I don’t know if time can diminish it.”
The interview was illustrated with photos of the prime minister posing with his children and grandchildren, but not his wife. Mr. Berlusconi was also shown with Mr. Obama, whom he met at the White House last week and with whom he said he shared “a mind-set of getting things done.”
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