CERNOBBIO, (Italy) July 7: Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi detailed his vision of “a greater Europe” comprising Israel, Turkey and Russia as members of the EU, adding the expansion would take time.

Berlusconi, speaking to a conference, said Europe should look “beyond its borders”.

“I see a Europe that in the future will be able to include countries like Israel, Turkey and the Russian Federation. It would be a stronger Europe, both economically and militarily,” he said.

Berlusconi, who has been nurturing close ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, said he did not think extending the Union to include Russia would happen “anytime soon”. The EU Commission recently said Russia stood little chance of joining the EU club.

But Berlusconi said the Union should waste no time in establishing closer political, cultural and economic ties with Moscow.

His past suggestion that Israel should also be encouraged to join the EU has been criticized by Brussels, where a Commission spokesman said Israel did not fulfil “geographical criteria” for membership. Brussels has put Turkey’s membership bid on hold.

Berlusconi, who caused outrage at the European Parliament last week by comparing a critical German lawmaker as a Nazi concentration camp overseer, also took a subtle jibe at France on Monday by arguing that Europe should be grateful to the United States.

“Europeans are conscious of the fact that they have enjoyed 50 years of peace and safety thanks to American tax payers’ money,” he said.

The Italian prime minister, who is set to visit Washington later this month, wants to patch up relations between Europe and the United States in the aftermath of the Iraqi war.

France, which fiercely opposed the war in Iraq, has suggested a “bipolar” view of the world, in which Europe and America should compete with each other on the world stage.—dpa