A phonecall from hospitalised former premier and leader of the conservative Forza Italia party, Silvio Berlusconi, was "a wonderful surprise", foreign minister Antonio Tajani tweeted on Wednesday.
"A wonderful surprise to receive the call from @berlusconi," read the tweet.
"It was a great pleasure to update him on the government's and @forza_italia activities and send him a big, affectionate hug from all of us," the tweet continued.
"We await the return of our leader. Come on Silvio!"
Berluconi, 86, who has chronic leukemia, was on Monday transferred from intensive care to a regular ward of Milan's San Raffaele hospital, where he was admitted on 5 April suffering from a lung infection, according to his doctors.
Tajani belongs to Forza Italia, which billionaire media tycoon Berlusconi founded in 1994. The party is one of two junior partners in the rightwing government led by premier Giorgia Meloni.
