"When I read about how animals suffer on their way to the slaughterhouse and death I no longer had any desire to eat meat," the Corriere della Sera daily quoted Berlusconi as saying.
“We are talking about wonderful creatures – how can you kill and eat them?” Berlusconi wondered.
A few days ago the 79-year-old billionaire instructed the kitchen staff at his Villa San Martino in Arcore near Milan to stop making ragout with meat.
However, it is hard to say exactly what has prompted his decision to become a vegetarian, the newspaper wrote.
Some analysts believe that Berlusconi's new diet might means a change in his center-right Forza Italia party’s position on environmental issues, but they add that vegetarianism will hardly be enough to improve the ex-Premier’s reputation.
