'EU must deal with growth, jobs'

(ANSA) - Athens, January 17 - Italian President Sergio Mattarella on Tuesday said that economic growth and employment should be at the top of the European Union's agenda during a two-day trip to Greece.
    "We are convinced that the European Union should give primary importance to economic growth and employment, especially for the young", the president said in Athens on the first day of his visit.
    He also expressed the hope that the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome, on March 25, will provide an occasion "to relaunch integration" as well as promote "real, authentic and effective European solidarity".
    The president said solidarity was necessary on all fronts, including immigration, adding that "it is not a problem for Greece and Italy but for all of Europe because our coasts are the European Union's shores".
    Mattarella said Italy and Greece are partners within the European Union with joint strategic interests and "the same vision for the present and for the future".
    He also spoke about NATO as an "organization of extraordinary importance for peace and stability".