Italian MEP who dubbed Breivik’s ideas “excellent” apologizes

EU parliament MP from Italy Mario Borghezio, who partially approved of the actions of Norway terrorist Anders Behring Breivik responsible for deaths of 76 people in twin terror act, has apologized for his words.

“I beg the pardon of the victims and the Norwegian people. I’ll also ask for pardon in the European Parliament and other institutions,” Borghezio announced on Radio 24. Earlier on the same radio station he shared opinion that some of the ideas of terrorist Anders Breivik “are good, some are just great” – apart from the violence.The reaction to his words was furious, both from his political opponents and fellow party members.The leader of The Federation of the Greens Angelo Bonelli accused Borghezio of “fomentation of racial hatred and connivance to crime.”Borghezio’s party fellow from the Northern League, Italian politician and a member of the Senate of Italy Roberto Calderoli has labeled the words of his colleague as “horrible and absolutely unauthorized.”“We can only apologize to the families of the victims for the nonsense he [Mario Borghezio] said,” insisted Calderoli.The same valuation to Borghezio sayings has expressed Italy’s FM Franco Frattini, who said that “Borghezio’s individual apology is necessary.”The prosecutor’s office of Milan has expressed interest in Borghezio’s radio speech to find out whether it contained incitement to violence or not.Italian mass media reports that member of the Northern League party Mario Borghezio is well-known for his provocative statements. In 2008, after the self-proclaimed independence of Kosovo, Mario Borghezio called for granting independence to industrially developed northern part of Italy, the so-called Padania, which is the officially proclaimed aim of the Northern League.