Macron lauds Mattarella (4)

(ANSA) - Paris, May 28 - French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday praised the "courage" and the "great spirit of responsibility" of Italian President Sergio Mattarella.
    Macron said "I reaffirm my friendship and support for President Mattarella who has an essential task facing him, that of the institutional and democratic stability of his country.
    "And that's what he is doing with a lot of courage and great sense of responsibility".
    The Italian head of State, invoking the need to protect Italians' savings from market turmoil, on Sunday rejected the League-5 Star pick for economy minister Paolo Savona as being anti-euro, ending the parties' bid to form western Europe's first all-populist government.
    Mattarella then handed a mandate to former IMF economist Carlo Cottarelli to form an interim government to steer Italy to fresh elections - early next year if he gets parliament's confidence or more likely after August.