An alleged mafia jibe directed at Italy by Russian President Vladimir Putin received widespread coverage in the Italian media Monday and risked straining relations between the two countries.

Speaking during a summit with European Union leaders in Finland, Putin reportedly defended himself from charges that organized crime networks dominate business in his country by noting that “the word mafia was born in Italy, not Russia”, Spain’s El Pays reported Sunday.

The remark was splashed out on the front pages of Italy’s leading dailies Monday and drew condemnation from government officials.

“It was an incredible remark. Instead of speaking nonsense, Putin should explain what has happened with the murder of (Russian journalist Anna) Politkovskaya,” Italian Foreign Ministry undersecretary Gianni Vernetti told reporters.

Politkovskaya, who was murdered in Moscow on Oct 7, had repeatedly reported on human rights violations in Chechnya, which is ruled by pro-Kremlin politicians.

While Prime Minister Romano Prodi’s office sought to play down the incident, saying Putin’s remark was meant to be ironic, other lawmakers called on the government to issue a strong reaction.

“Italy should respond to the serious remarks made by Russian President Putin,” said Angelo Bonelli of the Green Party, which is a member of Prodi’s centre-left ruling coalition.

Putin had come under fire during the summit over human rights violations in Russia and reportedly also accused many Spanish mayors of being “corrupt”.

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