One of the subtexts of the eurozone crisis was the extent to which the problems were exacerbated by the terrible relationship between Silvio Berlusconi and his counterparts in France and Germany (Sarkozy and Merkel).

Not helping matters is the fact that in 2011, Berlusconi reportedly referred to Merkel as an "unf**able lard-arse."

Berlusconi will be on the BBC tonight, getting interviewed by the legendary Jeremy Paxman, who asked him about the reports directly to his face.

Sadly, this is just a tease, and we have to wait for the full interview later.

(Via The Independent)