Meloni hails 'good news' on Berlusconi hospital discharge

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 19 - Premier Giorgia Meloni on Friday hailed as "good news" the discharge from hospital of Forza Italia (FI) leader and ex premier Silvio Berlusconi after 45 days.
    "Silvio Berlusconi has been discharged from San Raffaele Hospital in Milan. Good news," said Meloni in a Tweet from Hiroshima, Japan, where she was attending the G7 summit.
    "Forza Silvio. We will be waiting for you in the battlefield to fight many battles together," she added.
    "We are all happy about your return home, welcome back President!" tweeted Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, national coordinator for FI.
    "There is news that warms the heart and fills one with happiness. Welcome home President," said FI Senate whip Licia Ronzulli.
    Her Lower House counterpart Paolo Barelli expressed similar sentiments. "Welcome home, President! I am happy to know you are finally home. Never before have we been so aware of the immense support you give us to face the good battles that Forza Italia carries out for the common good, for the people, for our country," he said.
    Minister for Public Administration Paolo Zangrillo, also of FI, described the 86-year-old media magnate as "an example of courage and determination even in facing this umpteenth test of his life".
    "We have a unique leader, who has never stopped working for the good of the country and who will continue to lead us with unchanged physical and moral strength," he added.
    "The news of our president Silvio Berlusconi's return home fills us with joy," said FI deputy coordinator Anna Maria Bernini.
    "In these 45 days he has shown once again what it means to be a true leader, he has never failed to be present and guide our community, he has always continued to follow the party with the same love and strength as always. From today we can finally write a new chapter in our history together. Thank you President, we are by your side ready to achieve new goals," she said.
    Berlusconi was taken into hospital on April 5 with a lung infection linked to his previously undisclosed chronic leukemia.
    He spent 12 days in intensive care before being transferred to an ordinary ward, where he has been convalescing.
    He intervened with a video message at the Forza Italia convention in Milan earlier this month and to urge Italians to go out and vote in an important round of local elections last Sunday and Monday. (ANSA).