The Prime Minister of Malta, together with other Heads of State and Government from seven European Union states sent a letter to the President of the European Commission and to the Prime Minister of Finland, as EU Presidency, on the subject of illegal immigration. The letter was sent ahead of the Informal European Council which will be held at the level of Heads of State and Government in Lahti, Finland on 20 October 2006.
In their letter, dated Monday 25th September, the European leaders call for a common solution to the challenge of illegal migration, “a problem which concerns the entirety of the Union and not only the countries on its external borders”.
They welcome the letter of Commission President José Manuel Durão Barroso to the European Heads of State and Government on 7th September and agree that the Informal European Council of Lahti represents an excellent opportunity to take stock of the situation ahead of the decisions to be taken at the European Council of December.
The European leaders also put forward a number of concrete proposals for action which include among others a further strengthening of dialogue with African countries and countries of transit and origin, as well as the reinforcement among EU Member States of operational cooperation in the management of the EU’s southern border.
Other Heads of State and Government signing the letter included the Prime Minister of Italy Romano Prodi, the President of France Jacques Chirac, the Prime Minister of Spain José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, the President of Cyprus Tassos Papadopoulos, the Prime Minister of Greece Kostas Karamanlis , the Prime Minister of Portugal José Sócrates and the Prime Minister of Slovenia Janez Janša.
© Copyright 2006 - MaltaMedia Online Network
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