It is not every day that a European prime minister appears on primetime television to deny that he dates underage girls or is berated by a Vatican cardinal over his private life - but Italy's Silvio Berlusconi appears to be riding out his latest storm.

An opinion poll commissioned by La Repubblica, a pro-opposition daily, showed the prime minister's ratings almost unchanged yesterday at 66 per cent - perhaps the highest in Europe - and even 61 per cent of declared Catholic voters were supportive.