Berlusconi yuks it up with Lukahsenka over stolen election

Silvio Berlusconi saying something offensive is hardly big news. But as RFE/RL Luke Allnut notes, on a recent state visit to Belarus, he managed to do it without being sexist or racist:

"Thank you and thanks to your people who, I know, love you, as is demonstrated by the election results which everybody can see," Berlusconi told [Belarusian President Alyaksandr] Lukashenka.

Berlusconi is referring to the 2006 Presidential election, in which Lukashenko received 83 percent of the vote in a poll that was widely considered rigged by international observers and led to massive demonstrations by the opposition. Lukashenko joked at the time that he had actually received 93.5 percent of the vote but had lowered it a an acceptable "European figure."

Hilarious. I wonder if it bothers Berlusconi that all his best friends are dictators these days.