German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday that reforms carried out by Prime Minister Mario Monti had put Italy on a good path, dismissing Silvio Berlusconi's criticism he had been too "German-centric."
Angela Merkel's spokesman on Thursday denied Germany's chancellor apologized to Silvio Berlusconi for supposedly sharing a smirk at an EU summit with French President Nicolas Sarkozy at the Italian leader's expense.
Italy's gaffe-prone Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi appears to have insulted German Chancellor Angela Merkel using a vulgar phrase about her figure during a recent phone call.