Berlusconi triggered the uproar on Wednesday when he reacted to criticism from a German European Parliament MP by comparing the Socialist lawmaker to a Nazi concentration kapo' (an inmate promoted to guard).

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder demanded a "full apology" for the remark, which rebounded around the world, and talked to Berlusconi by phone Thursday.

Afterwards, Schroeder said the Italian premier had "expressed regret over his choice of words and the concept," adding that "in the eyes of the German government, the case is now closed."

But European Parliament Speaker Pat Cox said this morning that a phone call between Schroeder and Berlusconi was insufficient to declare the matter closed and called on the premier to return to Strasbourg to explain himself.

"We welcome the progress made in relations between Italy and Germany, but a definitive solution demands that Mr. Berlusconi clarify the incident before the European Parliament," Cox said.

Enrique Baron Crespo of Spain, the whip of the Socialist Group (PES) in the European Parliament, said Berlusconi had opened an "institutional crisis" and continued to demand an apology, along with the Greens.

But Hans Gert Poettering, the leader of the center-right European People's Party to which Berlusconi's Forza Italia party belongs, said Berlusconi had already said enough to make amends and that it was now Schulz's turn to say sorry.

The Nazi remark and subsequent furor came the day after Italy took over the European Union rotating presidency and followed criticism from Martin Schulz, a member of Schroeder's own Social Democrats party, over the unresolved conflict between the billionaire media mogul's political powers and his vast business interests.

Schulz also highlighted Berlusconi's legal tangles and the alleged shield provided by his immunity from prosecution, and attacked a volatile minister in his government, Northern League leader Umberto Bossi, who is frequently criticized as anti-immigrant and anti-EU.

"I know a producer in Italy who's making a film about Nazi concentration camps. I'll recommend you for the role of Kapo'. You' d be perfect." Berlusconi replied.

Many foreign commentators said it had confirmed critics' worst assumptions about Berlusconi and reinforced detractors' doubts about his fitness to represent the European Union.

On Thursday, a brief statement from the Italian premier's office after the Berlusconi-Schroeder phone call said the premier had complained to the chancellor about the "serious offence" caused by Schulz.

"He expressed his regret over the fact that somebody misunderstood the sense of a quip that was meant to be purely ironic," the statement said.

The European Commission, the EU's executive body, has refused to comment on the incident beyond saying that it was "very serious and naturally everybody in the Commission would have preferred it not to have happened."

(Xinhua News Agency July 5, 2003)