Democratic Europe, however, will not unite against them by standing up for its best values. Its silence about Berlusconi – by turns both cowardly and compromised undermines its ability to stand up to corrupt politics anywhere else in Europe, most notably in the weak democracies of the post-Soviet east, and makes a nonsense of its condemnations of abuses of democratic rights beyond its borders. For the first time in its history, Europe’s reputation as a force for good in the world feels precarious. Soon it will feel fraudulent.

— »Europe’s response to Berlusconi has been cowardly« - Nick Cohen - The Observer