United States President George W. Bush and other world leaders have sent messages of congratulations to Silvio Berlusconi on the center right's victory in Italy's general election.
A White House spokesman said the American president had phoned the premier-to-be and told him he was ''happy to work with him again''.
During his previous five-year term as premier, Berlusconi was one of Bush's strongest allies in Europe and the two men forged a strong bond, capped by the Italian leader being Bush's personal guest at the president's ranch in Texas.
Berlusconi on Tuesday also received messages of congratulation from Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero, who only recently won re-election, and Spain's conservative opposition leader Mariano Rajoy.
In his congratulations, French President Nicolas Sarkozy expressed his hope that Italy and France ''can work closely together in a concerted way''.
European People's Party (EPP) leader Wilfred Martens defined Berlusconi's victory as ''historic'' and said he was convinced that a center-right government ''will reinforce the values of EPP family polices in Italy''.
''I truly hope that this result will allow Italy to tackle necessary institutional and structural reforms,'' Martens added.
Berlusconi's Forza Italia, which merged with the right-wing National Alliance to create the People of Freedom party (PDL), is part of the EPP group at the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
European Commission President Jose' Manuel Barroso phoned both Berlusconi and caretaker Premier Romano Prodi after the Italian vote, his spokesman said.
In his chat with Berlusconi, Barroso said he was sure that the EC's relations with the future Italian government ''will be fruitful and constructive, in line with Italian tradition''.
He added that the change of government in Italy ''coincides with an important moment for European integration for which we are counting on Berlusconi's contribution to ensure the full success of this European project''.
The spokesman said that in his conversation with Prodi, Barroso expressed his ''gratitude and appreciation'' for Italy's support.
Prodi was Barros' predecessor as head of the EU executive.
Other messages sent to Berlusconi included one from the fundamentalist Palestinian group Hamas, which urged the Italian leader to ''come out from under the shadow of the United States''.
''It is our hope that Berlusconi has learned that American regional policy only creates hate. Following the United States will certainly not help to find a solution to the conflicts in our region,'' a Hamas leader told ANSA.
In his 2001-2006 government, Berlusconi followed Washington's lead in favoring Israel.
During the election campaign, Berlusconi said the first country he would visit if elected would be Israel.
