<p>Italian ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who dominated politics for decades, was in intensive care on Wednesday for heart problems, a member of his entourage told AFP.</p>.<p>The 86-year-old media mogul and senator, who has been in and out of the hospital in recent years, is currently in Milan's San Raffaele Hospital, the source said.</p>.<p>Italian news agency Ansa said he was admitted early Wednesday and that his current condition was "stable".</p>.<p>Berlusconi, the billionaire leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30.</p>.<p>After dominating Italian politics for two decades, the "Cavaliere" as he is widely known in Italy, now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.</p>.<p>Long gone are the days of his infamous erotic "bunga bunga" parties with young starlets, which he has always insisted were nothing more than elegant dinners.</p>.<p>Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."</p>.<p>The following year, Covid-related complications caused a series of hospital stays.</p>.<p>Berlusconi, who served as prime minister three times after entering politics in 1994, had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.</p>.<p>Forza Italia is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, although the party attracts only about 10 percent of voters.</p>.<p>Berlusconi won a seat in Italy's Senate during general elections in September, nine years after he was kicked out from the upper house of parliament after a conviction on tax fraud.</p>
<p>Italian ex-prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who dominated politics for decades, was in intensive care on Wednesday for heart problems, a member of his entourage told AFP.</p>.<p>The 86-year-old media mogul and senator, who has been in and out of the hospital in recent years, is currently in Milan's San Raffaele Hospital, the source said.</p>.<p>Italian news agency Ansa said he was admitted early Wednesday and that his current condition was "stable".</p>.<p>Berlusconi, the billionaire leader of the right-wing Forza Italia party, spent four days last month at the same hospital for what Italian news reports called heart issues, before being discharged on March 30.</p>.<p>After dominating Italian politics for two decades, the "Cavaliere" as he is widely known in Italy, now appears visibly diminished on the rare occasions he is seen in public.</p>.<p>Long gone are the days of his infamous erotic "bunga bunga" parties with young starlets, which he has always insisted were nothing more than elegant dinners.</p>.<p>Berlusconi was in hospital for 11 days for Covid-related pneumonia in September 2020, after contracting the virus while on holiday in Sardinia, describing it as "perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life."</p>.<p>The following year, Covid-related complications caused a series of hospital stays.</p>.<p>Berlusconi, who served as prime minister three times after entering politics in 1994, had open heart surgery in 2016 and surgery on his intestine three years later.</p>.<p>Forza Italia is a member of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's coalition government, although the party attracts only about 10 percent of voters.</p>.<p>Berlusconi won a seat in Italy's Senate during general elections in September, nine years after he was kicked out from the upper house of parliament after a conviction on tax fraud.</p>