“I’m fine, I had quite a fright,” the 82-year-old billionaire told journalists as he left the San Raffaele hospital in Milan.
“Many things have happened recently that made me think I had reached the end of the line, but instead I’ve recovered amazingly well.”
The three-time prime minister was rushed to hospital last Tuesday with acute abdominal pain, forcing him to miss a rally of his Forza Italia party ahead of this month’s European elections.
Upon leaving hospital, he insisted he will continue campaigning for the European elections.
“I promised those who looked after me: I will campaign for the elections,” he said.
However, Berlusconi added that he will limit his appearances to television, radio and newspaper interviews, rather than attending public rallies.
A former cruise-ship singer turned property and media tycoon, Berlusconi was Italian prime minister on three occasions between 1994 and 2011.
Despite facing numerous sex scandals, legal battles and health concerns, he is known as “the immortal” for his longevity in politics and led the Italian right for more than two decades.
Berlusconi has faced a string of charges over the so-called Rubygate scandal linked to his parties and the underaged prostitute Karima El-Mahroug, also known as “Ruby the heart-stealer”.
The billionaire businessman is currently on trial for paying a witness to give false testimony about his notoriously hedonistic parties.
Berlusconi is also being investigated or prosecuted for witness tampering in Milan, Siena, Rome and Turin, each time for allegedly paying people to keep quiet about his so-called bunga-bunga parties.
Berlusconi campaigned for FI in last March’s national election, but said his inability to stand as a candidate hurt its chances and for the first time the party trailed the League, by 14 per cent of the vote to 17.35 per cent.
His bid for a European Parliament seat is his first run at public office since being found guilty of tax fraud in 2013.
