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The billionaire prime minster is under scrutiny for organising parties at his private residence in Arcore outside Milan with young women who are allegedly paid 5,000 euros (7,000 dollars) for the evening, according to media reports.
When one of the girls, a young Moroccan called Ruby, was arrested in May for alleged theft, Berlusconi is said to have put pressure on police in Milan to release her.
'Il Cavaliere,' who enjoys presenting himself as a great seducer, defended himself half-heartedly against the accusation on the sidelines of the EU summit on Friday.
"I am a big-hearted man and I like to help those in need," he said.
"I didn't try to influence anyone. I asked Nicole Minetti to help a person who could be helped, not end up sent to a commune or locked up, but be put under protection," he added.
Newspaper reports said Minetti, a former dancer and dental hygienist who counts the prime minister among her patients, was sent to help Ruby and met her when she was released from police custody.
Minetti caused a media stir herself last spring when she was chosen among others to represent Berlusconi's party in Italy's regional elections.
Berlusconi's lawyers strongly deny any suggestion the prime minister may have had sexual relations with the girl.
"No one can make me change my lifestyle, I'm proud of it," Berlusconi said.
"I have a terrible life, it takes a super-human effort to carry on, working until 2:30 in the morning, going to bed and getting up again at seven," he said.
"If every now and then I need an evening to relax and tell some jokes, no one can make me change my lifestyle," he added.
Italian newspapers are relishing the "Ruby affair," expressing their disgust at yet another scandal involving the prime minister by gleefully dedicating countless articles to each fresh allegation.
"Storm over parties in Arcore," read the headline in the Corriere della Sera.
Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, gave column inches to the story on Friday under the headline "Ruby, the mysterious phone call."
The left-leaning Fatto Quotidiano newspaper railed against "The Bunga Bunga government," an allusion to one of Berlusconi's favourite jokes -- about the presumed sexual practices of cannibals -- that he apparently shared with Ruby at one of his parties.
The prime minister's "sayings" are often the talk of Italian gossip columns.
In May 2009, his wife Veronic Lario publicly asked for a divorce after she discovered her husband had attended the 18th birthday party of a blonde girl called Noemi who called him "Daddy."
At the same time, Berlusconi had been caught up in another scandal, after a prostitute, Patrizia D'Addario, claimed she had spent a torrid night with him, details of which she proceeded to publish in a book a few months later.
Just like the previous scandals, the opposition has called on the prime minister to resign, saying he has made himself a potential blackmail victim.
"We have the right to ask that the head of the government be able to guarantee sobriety and dignity," said Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani.
As far as ex-wife Lario is concerned, the latest allegations just prove that her ex-husband is "sick" and "uncontrollable."
"It's incredible that a man in his position does not have the necessary self-control," she told the Catholic weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana.
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When one of the girls, a young Moroccan called Ruby, was arrested in May for alleged theft, Berlusconi is said to have put pressure on police in Milan to release her.
'Il Cavaliere,' who enjoys presenting himself as a great seducer, defended himself half-heartedly against the accusation on the sidelines of the EU summit on Friday.
"I am a big-hearted man and I like to help those in need," he said.
"I didn't try to influence anyone. I asked Nicole Minetti to help a person who could be helped, not end up sent to a commune or locked up, but be put under protection," he added.
Newspaper reports said Minetti, a former dancer and dental hygienist who counts the prime minister among her patients, was sent to help Ruby and met her when she was released from police custody.
Minetti caused a media stir herself last spring when she was chosen among others to represent Berlusconi's party in Italy's regional elections.
Berlusconi's lawyers strongly deny any suggestion the prime minister may have had sexual relations with the girl.
"No one can make me change my lifestyle, I'm proud of it," Berlusconi said.
"I have a terrible life, it takes a super-human effort to carry on, working until 2:30 in the morning, going to bed and getting up again at seven," he said.
"If every now and then I need an evening to relax and tell some jokes, no one can make me change my lifestyle," he added.
Italian newspapers are relishing the "Ruby affair," expressing their disgust at yet another scandal involving the prime minister by gleefully dedicating countless articles to each fresh allegation.
"Storm over parties in Arcore," read the headline in the Corriere della Sera.
Il Messaggero, the Rome daily, gave column inches to the story on Friday under the headline "Ruby, the mysterious phone call."
The left-leaning Fatto Quotidiano newspaper railed against "The Bunga Bunga government," an allusion to one of Berlusconi's favourite jokes -- about the presumed sexual practices of cannibals -- that he apparently shared with Ruby at one of his parties.
The prime minister's "sayings" are often the talk of Italian gossip columns.
In May 2009, his wife Veronic Lario publicly asked for a divorce after she discovered her husband had attended the 18th birthday party of a blonde girl called Noemi who called him "Daddy."
At the same time, Berlusconi had been caught up in another scandal, after a prostitute, Patrizia D'Addario, claimed she had spent a torrid night with him, details of which she proceeded to publish in a book a few months later.
Just like the previous scandals, the opposition has called on the prime minister to resign, saying he has made himself a potential blackmail victim.
"We have the right to ask that the head of the government be able to guarantee sobriety and dignity," said Democratic Party leader Pier Luigi Bersani.
As far as ex-wife Lario is concerned, the latest allegations just prove that her ex-husband is "sick" and "uncontrollable."
"It's incredible that a man in his position does not have the necessary self-control," she told the Catholic weekly magazine Famiglia Cristiana.
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