When Vladimir Putin’s best friend in the European Union, Gerhard Schröder, left office he headed straight into employment for his friends in the Kremlin, taking a cushy seat on the board of the Nord Stream pipeline project. When Putin’s other best friend Silvio Berlusconi left office back in 2006, similar job offers were probably on the table, but Italy’s third most wealthy man held on tight for his next chance to return as Prime Minister. Having sailed to a comfortable victory in the elections on a wave of garbage (both literal and figurative), the ostentatious Berlusconi made it clear who is #1 for him, announcing that Vladimir Putin will be the first foreign head of state he will meet with, inviting the outgoing president for a dinner this weekend at his lavish Sardinian villa. It will probably be the most fun these men have had together since hanging out with Jean Claude Van Damme to watch an ultimate fighting championship, where they repeatedly expressed their mutual admiration of each other, and perhaps shared tips on successful neo-populism. But the similarities don’t end there for these bosom buddies.