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
Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy and never really recovered, bar during his reelection attempt. That scandal was later admitted to have been a crucial point by party officials, who noticed UMP membership dramatically fell. On the other side, right-wing discontent grew as National Front's new president Marine Le Pen launched an early campaign. Sarkozy's confidence ratings later fell to 30% in early 2010 and reached 20% in May 2011. Presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy The presidency of Nicolas Sarkozy began on 16 May 2007 when Nicolas Sarkozy became the sixth President of the French Fifth Republic, following his victory in the 2007 presidential election. A candidate