ROME, Aug 24 (AFP) - Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi has sought the help of the United States in seeking to avoid loss of Italian influence as a result of proposed changes in the UN Security Council, the Italian press said Tuesday.
Reports said Berlusconi had written to President George W. Bush insisting that the changes should take account of Italy's econonmic weight and contribution to peace-keeping missions around the world.
A high-level panel is scheduled to report to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan early next year on how the United Nations can be transformed into an effective organization for the 21st century.
The Economist said that when the panel held a closed-door meeting in Austria last month, it suggested increasing the number of Security Council members from 15 to 24 -- keeping the present five veto-wielding countries, but adding powerful nations like Brazil, Germany, India, Japan and South Africa to a second tier of semi-permanent members for a renewable term of four or five years.
The daily La Repubblica said Berlusconi fears that the entry of Germany but not Italy into this elite circle would be to the detriment of Rome's influence. It said he had written to other leaders, apart from Bush, appealing for support.
According to the Milan daily Corriere della Sera, Berlusconi told Bush that if there is to be an increase in the number of permanent members of the Security Council, "one cannot see why Italy should be excluded."
Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said in a recent interview that reform of the UN system should "place to the fore countries that, like Italy, contribute most to peace-keeping missions and the aims of the United Nations."