His stop in Italy was one of the few in Europe in which tibetan Buddhism’s spiritual leader delivered a public speech. During the ceremony, the Dalai Lama stood up for hugging Marco Pannella (Radical Party's historic leader) who was just metres from him, in front of a few thousands attendees. After that, he invited the Radical Party leader to join them for the feast, therefore interrupting his hunger strike.

This particular episode was completely lambasted by all press present during the event.

During the 25 minutes of the Regional TG3 news, not one reference (or shoot) has been aired regarding to the meeting between the Dalai Lama and Mr. Pannella. In total 14 minutes were dedicated to the event in Basilicata by all State-TV RAI, but not one second was dedicated to the encounter between the two leaders.