“Berlusconi was the bad guy”, the former president confesses how he and Merkel saved Italy from bankruptcy

Sarkozy writes: “Our relations were beginning to deteriorate. Berlusconi was becoming a caricature of himself. The brilliant entrepreneur, the politician of indomitable energy, was but a distant memory. The sad episode of “Bunga-Bunga” had foretold an inglorious end. I took advantage of that trip to Rome to support Mario Draghi’s candidacy for the presidency of the European Central Bank. Draghi was competent, open and likeable. His long collaboration with Goldman Sachs would have guaranteed us a more “American” than “German” approach. A crucial aspect in my eyes”.