Italian President Mario Monti welcomed Thursday the European Central Bank's emergency bond-buying programme aimed at ending the eurozone's long-running debt crisis, dpa reported.
"Today I see an important moment, a step forward towards a more satisfactory governance of the eurozone," Monti said at talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso in Rome.
"From today, the word 'help' has become less dramatic," he said, explaining that there were now instruments available to confront the stubbornly high borrowing costs of eurozone countries such as Italy.
Barroso stressed that the ECB had acted within its mandate.
"The ECB cannot, and should not, finance governments, but in a situation when there is no integrity of monetary policy, if governments commit formally to strict discipline, it is appropriate and within the mandate of the ECB to act," he said.