The Knight Errant.(Italy's Berlusconi)

Silvio Berlusconi may be a media magnate, a billionaire, a target of endless probes and, quite possibly, Italy's next prime minister. But most of all, he's a "supersalesman," in the words of his leading political rival. And his favorite product is himself: "There's no one on the world's political stage that can compete with me," says Berlusconi. "None of them has the history and the human substance that I have."

In another time, the braggadocio of the man who likes to be called Il Cavaliere (The Knight) might amuse his neighbors. But today's Italy is no joke. It's Europe's fourth largest economy, and one of 11 countries locked into the Continent's single currency. It's a vital NATO ally and a member of the G8, which will hold its annual summit in Genoa this July. If Berlusconi's coalition wins Italian elections on May 13, he'll be the host. And that makes a lot of people nervous. In fact, Il Cavaliere has come under such a torrent of criticism in the European press, some of it concerned, some of it contemptuous, that fellow magnate Gianni Agnelli felt compelled to defend him--and the country. Italy and its voters, said Agnelli, are being treated "like a banana republic."

It's not the first time that Berlusconi, Italy's richest man, has been center stage. He created a party from scratch, won elections and formed a government that briefly coalesced, then crumbled, in 1994. At the time, he seemed a curiosity. Years of judicial investigations had destroyed Italy's corruption-filled political establishment, and into the void stepped the self-made Berlusconi, who had built a TV, news and publishing empire. Could he be worse than the lot he replaced?

Europe seems to think so. Perhaps because the Continent has grown so closely knit, there is widespread consternation at the return of Berlusconi. The center-left coalition that's dominated Parliament the past five years has been a solid European partner. Berlusconi, by contrast, seems unsavory to reporters and opinion makers all over the EU. It's not just a matter of personality or platform. Like Berlusconi, leftist parties all over Europe claim to want lower taxes and less bureaucracy. The discomfort centers on his shady reputation and the pending investigations into his business practices--as well as the presence of several right-wing politicians in his House of Freedom coalition who spew rhetoric larded with racism and xenophobia. The French daily Le Monde felt constrained to "remind" Italian voters last week that "they are part of a community that upholds certain values that the election of Mr. Berlusconi would contradict." Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel has described Berlusconi as "a danger to Europe," denounced one of his allies as "fascist" and even raised the unlikely possibility that Italy could be quarantined by the Community the way Austria was when it brought right-winger Jorg Haider into government.

In the current age of centrism, when the policies of left and right often converge, Italy's campaign has been filled with flashback references worthy of Black Shirts and red flags. Berlusconi denounces the criminal charges leveled against him as the work of "communist" judges and says his opponent, Francesco Rutelli, is just a "disguise" for the old left, a pretty face picked to head a coalition masterminded by former communist Massimo D'Alema, or "the Bolshevik," as Berlusconi likes to call him.

The extremist tenor of the Italian campaign--as if fascists were competing against communists--only worsens the fears of Italy's European partners. Berlusconi's ally, Umberto Bossi of the Northern League, told the party faithful last week that they have to choose "whether they want a leftist Europe similar to the Soviet republics or whether they want a democratic Europe." Speaking in Imperia, a town Mussolini created in 1923 to symbolize his power, the gruff-voiced Bossi suggested World War II would never have happened if Germany hadn't "tried to change the balance" against "Anglo-Saxon" domination of the world economy. He denied he is a "fascist," then railed against immigrants and the dangers of "homosexual marriages."

Bossi, who formerly called for the secession of northern Italy, ought to be a marginal player. And when Berlusconi had a double-digit lead, he was. But if Berlusconi wins only a narrow victory, Bossi could end up with the power to determine the government's survival. In 1994 Bossi ...