Berlusconi leaves Italian hospital, to campaign for EU vote

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi speaks to reporters as he leaves the San Raffaele hospital where he underwent laparoscopic surgery for an intestinal obstruction last week, in Milan, Italy, Monday, May 6, 2019. Berlusconi himself is running for European Parliament elections, the first time he has been allowed to run for public office following a ban imposed after a 2012 tax fraud conviction (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi smiles as he leaves the San Raffaele hospital where he underwent laparoscopic surgery for an intestinal obstruction last week, in Milan, Italy, Monday, May 6, 2019. Berlusconi himself is running for European Parliament elections, the first time he has been allowed to run for public office following a ban imposed after a 2012 tax fraud conviction (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)

ROME – Former Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi has left a Milan hospital, six days after intestinal surgery, vowing to keep running for the European Parliament.

The 82-year-old Berlusconi told reporters Monday he feared he had reached the "end of the line. Instead, I made a formidable comeback." Doctors said the media mogul had suffered an intestinal blockage.

Berlusconi said he'd rest up a while and won't lead election rallies but will campaign on TV, radio and other media. He's running for Forza Italia, the party he founded a quarter-century ago.

He blasted Italy's populist government, saying its coalition partners "can only do one thing, squabble." Berlusconi hopes Forza Italia will be a linchpin of a majority center-right alliance in the European Parliament to keep nationalist forces at bay.