President George Abela has urged the European Union to take further steps to tackle illegal immigration from North Africa.

"North Africa is still not settled, the situation there not yet stabilised, and that will undoubtedly affect our island," Dr Abela warned.

Speaking in Vilnius, Lithuania, where he is on a state visit, Dr Abela pointed out how Malta recently experienced an influx of migrants.

"That in itself has put pressure on the Maltese economy because we do not have the administrative capacity to handle these immigrants," Dr  Abela told journalists.

The President said he expected fellow EU countries would take in more refugees to share the burden, insisting the European Commission should create a permanent mechanism to tackle the issue.

He said Europe could take its cue from the United States which has  absorbed 1,000 refugees from Malta in recent years when the EU only took in a few hundred.

President Abela this morning had a meeting with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite at the presidential palace in Vilnius.

He will also visit Estonia later this week.