azz dopo la pseudobattuta del nano plei boi i finnici incaxxosi adesso ci vogliono boicottare
Finns urged to retaliate over Berlusconi gaffe
HELSINKI, June 24 (Reuters) - Finns should boycott Italian produce after Italy's Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi insulted both their cuisine and their president this week, farming officials said on Friday.
Representatives of Finland's union of agricultural producers (MTK) said they would avoid products such as Italian olive oil and wine after Berlusconi said he'd had to "endure" Finnish food and said Italian ham was better than Finnish herrings.
He made the comments when he inaugurated the European Food Safety Agency in Parma, and compounded the damage by saying he had used all his "playboy tactics" to persuade President Tarja Halonen to give up her country's claim to host the agency.
"There will be none of these (Italian) products on my table during the midsummer festivities. (The comments) were deeply hurtful," the newspaper Helsingin Sanomat quoted Paula Viertola-Jern, a senior MTK official, as saying.
"He has insulted Finland and above all the president," she added.
Helsingin Sanomat said MTK officials discussed the boycott at a meeting but, while the organisation had not launched an organised campaign, it wanted people to take a stand against Berlusconi's comments.
"When I buy the sparkling wine for midsummer, I'll pass the Italian bottles by," MTK head Esa Harmala told the paper.
Halonen, Finland's first female president, enjoys high rates of popularity and the Italian ambassador was summoned by the government which wanted to express its surprise at Berlusconi's comments.
Finland began its midsummer holiday on Friday, with most Finns leaving the cities to grill sausages over open fires, eat pickled herrings and drink beer and vodka.