Meeting With Prime Minister Giulio Andreotti of Italy White House Statement.

President Carter met this morning in the White House with Giulio Andreotti, President of the Council of Ministers of the Italian Republic. The two leaders had a useful discussion of certain world issues, Alliance questions, and recent developments in both countries. Also present were Foreign Minister Arnaldo Forlani, Italian Ambassador Paolo Pansa, Minister Umberto La Rocoa, Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, and Gregory Treverton of the NSC staff.

The President and the Prime Minister reviewed the joint initiatives to enhance the relationship between Italy and the United States decided upon during the Prime Minister's visit to Washington in July 1977. A series of Cabinet-level visits has taken place in both directions over the last 10 months. New agreements have been reached in the areas of health, social security, exchange of language-teaching experts, scientific cooperation, and others. The two leaders expressed their satisfaction with progress achieved so far and indicated that programs to further strengthen bilateral relations will continue, in particular a renewed emphasis on the Bilateral Energy Working Group. Special attention was also given to the common problem of unemployment.

Prime Minister Andreotti described several recent encouraging developments in his government's efforts to bring to justice the murderers of Aldo Moro. The President expressed our sympathetic interest in the Italian antiterrorist efforts. President Carter pointed to the resilience with which Italian democratic institutions withstood the terrorist attack and to other encouraging recent events. He reaffirmed the confidence of the United States in Italy's ability to overcome present difficulties and continue to play its active role in the Western Alliance.

The two leaders will see each other at the summit meeting in Bonn in July.