Berlusconi calls for EU-US unity on pre-election trip to Washington

Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi has urged unity between Europe and the US in a common fight against Islamic extremism.

In his speech to a joint session of the US congress on Wednesday (1 March), Mr Berlusconi called for "a grand alliance of all democracies" and warned against a "politically dangerous" tendency in Europe to stand apart from Washington, according to press reports.

"A conception of European unity founded on a fanciful wish for self-sufficiency would be mora...