ROME (AP) — Former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy praised the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini for having been a good leader in many respects, despite his responsibility for anti-Jewish laws, immediately prompting expressions of outrage on Sunday as Europeans held Holocaust remembrances.

Mr. Berlusconi also defended the dictator for allying himself with Hitler, saying that Mussolini probably reasoned that it would be better to be on what he thought would be the winning side.

Mr. Berlusconi, whose conservative coalition is second in voter surveys ahead of next month’s elections, spoke to reporters on the sidelines of a ceremony in Milan on Sunday to commemorate the Holocaust....