MACEDONIA

Italy believes the euro zone countries could have done more for Greece.

Its foreign minister insists that only fast, coordinated and formulated action can ensure efficient control of a financial crisis on the scale that Athens is facing.

Italy is also calling on the EU to improve joint efforts against illegal immigration, patrolling the bloc';s external borders.

Euronews interviewed Franco Frattini in Paris.

Claudio Rosmino, Euronews:

"Foreign Minister, speaking about the European rescue plan for the Greek economy you said: "It will be a confidence test for maintaining the European system." We haven';t heard any declarations of intent from Brussels. Does that show a lack of cohesion among the Europeans or a wariness about the true state of the Greek economy?"

Franco Frattini, Italian Foreign Minister:

"The heads of state and government promised help, but were not able to come up with concrete proposals. We know that the European Commission has asked the Greeks for information about the reports in the international press on the assistance Greece is said to have received in making their accounts look better than they really were. We accept that Prime Minister Papandreou acted correctly, but I think that we could have done more. However, there are criteria for making decisions and if there is not a consensus you can';t reach a decision. So I want to stress that to be credible as a country in the euro area, we have to be able to intervene when a member state gets into difficulty."

Πηγή: euronews