Policies of Silvio Berlusconi period because during the Cold War Italy had the strongest communist party in western Europe. Vladimir Putin has many times expressed his appreciation for the respect shown by the Italian Prime Minister towards the leadership of the Russian Federation. Silvio Berlusconi is among the most vocal supporters of closer ties between Russia and the European Union. In an article published to Italian media on 26 May 2002, he said that the next step in Russia's growing integration with the West should be EU membership. On 17 November 2005 he commented in regards to the prospect of such a membership that
Records of members of parliament of the United Kingdom and was MP for Reading at the time of his death in 1648, a period spanning 73 years, although there were eight periods, amounting to 27 entire years (1590–92, 1594–96, 1599–1600, 1602–03, 1605–13, 1615–19, 1627 and 1630–39) in which the Parliament of England did not meet, and his period of service totalled little more than 23 years. The longest span of service of an MP since the start of the 20th century was Winston Churchill who was first elected on 1 October 1900 and left the House of Commons on 25 September 1964, a period of 63 years 360 days.