Brussels: Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, met Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta in Brussels Wednesday and discussed the case of the two Italian marines who are being held in India.

"A point that Prime Minister Letta has raised with me and on which we have been in close contact with the Italian authorities is the issue of the Italian marines in India. The European Union (EU) continues to follow the situation very closely," Barroso told a joint press conference with Letta after the meeting.