President Papoulias holds talks with Italian counterpart

President of the Hellenic Karolos Papoulias met his Italian counterpart Giorgio Napolitano for talks at the Quirinale palace in Rome on Monday afternoon.
"I pointed out to President Napolitano that for the Greek economy to stand on its feet, a final end must be put to uncertainty regarding Greece's stay in the Eurozone. Only in this way will it be possible for the necessary confidence in the Greek economy to be regained and the path to open for the carrying out of investments," Papoulias told a joint press conference after the talks.
President Papoulias thanked the political and state leadership of Italy for its support and referred to the latest developments in the fiscal crisis.
"The recent decision by the European Central Bank is a positive step. However, it blunts and it does not solve the issue. The problem of the Eurozone is primarily political and requires a political solution. It requires that we reexamine its very architecture, how we shall overcome the fact that there is a monetary union, without fiscal and political union".
He also said that "Greece is attempting a violent decrease of the fiscal deficit with a heavy economic and social cost. The economy is sinking in a vicious circle of recession. Unemployment is approaching the unacceptable percentage of 25 percent, while unemployment among young people is moving on the nightmarish 54 percent".
President Napolitano referred to the close friendship and solidarity that joins him with President Papoulias "who struggled and together with his people sustained severe ordeals".
The Italian president stressed that "Italy was always convinced that Greece is a substantial and fundamental member of European history, an unbreakable part of the process of the completion and unification of Europe".
According to President Napolitano, "the crisis that Greece was obliged to face and due to mistakes of its leading class, led to tensions with the European institutions, the need for support and solidarity to be sought, providing painfull sacifices".
He concluded that "Greece is an unbreakable part of the euro and the EU, Europe is an achievement of our countries and our peoples" and that he realises the social consequences of the sacrifices and efforts that Greece is making.

SOURCE: ATHENS NEWS AGENCY