Italy's 82-year-old ex-Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi claims to stand as a candidate for the European elections in May. He leads a sense of responsibility.
"In my good old age, I decided out of a sense of responsibility to go to Europe, where a deep thought on the future of the world is missing," said Berlusconi at a rally by his party Forza Italia.
Sentenced in 2013 for tax fraud
Berlusconi may compete again for the first time in a choice. Last year, a court in Milan overturned the ban imposed on him for tax fraud. He was still suspended in the Italian general election in March.
In 2013, he was convicted of tax fraud and was forced to do community service at a retirement home. He lost his seat in the House of Lords of the Italian Parliament - and received just that prohibition, six years not to be elected to an office.
Berlusconi said he expects to convince voters "that we are in danger of leaving Western values." Europe could thus be "dominated by a Chinese empire whose beliefs and values are opposite to ours".
The poll results of his party decline: Forza Italia came in recent surveys only about ten percent, which was well behind the far-right Lega Party of Italy Vice-Prime Minister Matteo Salvini.