Policies of Silvio Berlusconi despite the policy divide between the U.S. and many founding members of the European Union (Germany, France, Belgium) during the Bush administration. Under his lead the Italian Government also shifted its traditional position on foreign policy from being the most pro-Arab western government towards a greater friendship with Israel and Turkey (Silvio Berlusconi acted as wedding witness for the son of the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan) than in the past, hence rebalancing relations with all the Mediterranean countries to reach "equal closeness" with them. Berlusconi is one of the strongest supporters of Turkey's application to accede to the
Death and funeral of Helmut Kohl of the memorial ceremony in Strasbourg, and for denying Helmut Kohl a German act of state in Berlin, as desired by most German politicians, out of spite for Chancellor Angela Merkel. Richter, who is known for hard-right anti-immigrant views and for her support for Hungary's controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, also attempted to bar Chancellor Merkel from speaking at the European memorial ceremony and wanted to have Orbán speaking instead. She only relented when told by confidantes that it would cause a scandal and be considered extremely inappropriate. The Kohl family has declined to participate in the funeral in Speyer