Merkel “warmly” congratulated Berlusconi for his win in a telephone call to Italy's prime minister-elect and invited him to visit Germany, said Ulrich Wilhelm.
The chancellor looked forward to continuing her political collaboration with Berlusconi, with whom she had already worked well in the past, Wilhelm added.
Merkel, leader of Germany's conservative Christian Democratic Union (CDU), told Berlusconi that Italy was an important political partner for Germany, especially on the European scene.
Berlusconi's centre-right alliance, the People of Freedom party, secured an unexpectedly comfortable majority in both houses of parliament in the Sunday-Monday elections.
