According to international media reports, Belusconi had suffered several bouts of ill health in recent months.He was hospitalised in 2020 after contracting COVID-19, describing it as “perhaps the most difficult ordeal of my life”.In April 2023, doctors revealed he was in intensive care suffering from leukaemia and a lung infection.He was admitted to a Milan hospital on Friday for what aides said were preplanned tests related to his leukaemia.Berlusconi’s death leaves a “huge void” because he was a great man, Italian defence minister Guido Crosetto said on Twitter on Monday.“I loved him very much. Farewell Silvio,” Crosetto wrote.Berlusconi’s Forza Italia party was a coalition partner with current premier Giorgia Meloni, a far-right leader who came to power last year, although he held no position in the government.