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Berlusconi Offers to Quit if Euro Reforms Are Passed
ROME — Cornered by the European debt crisis, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy offered a conditional resignation on Tuesday, agreeing to step down but only after Parliament passes an austerity package demanded by the European Union, a move that could bring the country closer to early elections. Mr. Berlusconi, one of Europe’s wiliest leaders and the principal figure in Italian politics for 18 years, had failed to reach a parliamentary majority in a key vote on Tuesday, increasing the pressure on him to resign as financial markets drove up Italy’s borrowing costs to new records and raised further alarms about economic contagion in Europe.