Controversies surrounding Silvio Berlusconi being added to our list of Predators of Press Freedom", which would be a first for a European leader. He also added that Italy will probably be ranked last in the European Union in the upcoming edition of the RWB press freedom index. One of Berlusconi's strongest critics in the media outside Italy is the British weekly "The Economist" (nicknamed by Berlusconi ""The Ecommunist""), which in its issue of 26 April 2001 carried a title on its front cover, 'Why Silvio Berlusconi is unfit to lead Italy'. The war of words between Berlusconi and "The Economist" has gained notoriety, with
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