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 controversial second wife Maike Kohl-Richter however insisted on a burial in a separate tomb in Speyer. After the Church had turned down her request to bury Kohl inside the Speyer Cathedral alongside several Holy Roman Emperors, she decided on a burial in the nearby Old Cemetery. Controversy was caused when Helmut Kohl's controversial new wife Maike Kohl-Richter (formerly Richter) prevented Kohl's children and grandchildren from paying their respects to their deceased father and grandfather. In a statement to the media, Kohl's son Walter Kohl accused her of "tasteless behaviour." Maike Richter was also criticized for attempting to take full control