(ASSOCIATED PRESS)

A casualty of the European debt crisis is the release date of Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi’s new album of love songs.

The album, the fourth by the former cruise ship singer,  was due for release in September, but is now scheduled for as late as Nov. 22 due to the country’s massive debt problems and his own legal issues, according to the Italian newspaper La Stampa.

The album, “True Love,”  with words by Berlusconi and music by guitarist Mariano Apicella, even had a launch party planned in Milan, reported the Guardian.

The Italian prime minister reportedly sang at Bar Kontiki on the island of Elba in the 1950s and 1960s while he was studying law. Berlusconi, who has said he will not run for re-election in 2013, was even offered his old job again.

The CD’s release came as a European deal to decrease Greek’s debt, avoiding a financial meltdown on the continent, threatens to unravel.

A billionaire mostly from his media empire, Berlusconi is serving his third and most tempestuous term as prime minister. He survived a vote of no-confidence on Oct. 14, and is facing two criminal investigations.

Berlusconi was indicted in February for paying for sex with a teenage prostitute, Karima El Mahroug, who goes by the stage name of Ruby Rubacuore. He is accused of using his authority to release her from prison after she was arrested for theft. Berlusconi is currently on trial for those charges.

Ruby was only 17 when she attended what the prime minister called bunga bunga parties at Berlusconi’s residence and having sex with an underage prostitute carries a jail term of up to three years. The abuse of office charge carries a possible sentence of four to 12 years.

Lyrics to a song from a 2003 album include: “Tell me it doesn’t end here, that you don’t want to throw away our strange love like this. Tell me you’ll come back to me with no more bitter words, let me win your heart.”