Malta and Italy agree on high level meeting

A high level meeting between Malta and Italy to address illegal immigration will be held in Rome in October, the foreign ministers of both countries announced yesterday.

The meeting was requested by Foreign Minister Michael Frendo during talks he had yesterday morning with his Italian counterpart Gianfranco Fini. Mr Fini accepted immediately, suggesting chairing the meeting himself.

Besides the two foreign ministers, the meeting could include the home affairs ministers and the ministers responsible for the Armed Forces of Malta and the Italian navy respectively.

Dr Frendo told a joint press conference in Valletta that the two countries wanted to intensify collaboration and combat this international criminal phenomenon.

"We both expressly believe in giving asylum to genuine refugees, those who are entitled to humanitarian status according to international conventions, but we emphasise that we will not be at the mercy of human traffickers," Dr Frendo said.

He said illegal immigration has been the subject of a "diplomatic offensive" by Malta over the last few months, during which the country strongly emphasised the fact that the problem has reached crisis proportions.

Mr Fini said illegal immigration was not only a problem for Malta and Italy but should be of major concern to the European Union.

"Brussels needs to understand that we, as border countries, cannot deal with this unprecedented phenomenon by ourselves. Illegal immigration has reached proportions which risk having adverse economic and social consequences.

"Europe should definitely do more," Mr Fini, who is also his country's Deputy Prime Minister, said.

Recalling the time when both ministers participated in the European Convention which was drafting the EU Constitution, Mr Fini said a principle which many had been enthusiastic about was subsidiarity.

"This means that the European Union would work to achieve what nations by themselves cannot achieve," he added. Therefore, the EU had a duty to tackle the roots of the problem by activating programmes to assist the immigrants' countries of origin.

"We have to help these desperate souls to stay where they are born," the visiting minister said.

Mr Fini said Italy was committed to continue assisting Malta to alleviate the impact which illegal immigration has on the small nation.

"Dr Frendo earlier drew a parallel that might seem banal but is true. When a boat with immigrants arrives in Lampedusa they are taken to Sicily. When they arrive in Malta they have to remain here. Even we have problems of overcrowded detention centres but Malta's situation calls for a holistic approach by the European Union," Mr Fini said.

Asked by The Times whether Italy would help Malta strike a repatriation agreement with Libya once it had successfully concluded such a deal with the North African country, Mr Fini said Italy's agreement with Libya was very important because if Libya did not control its huge coast, Italy would risk an invasion.

He said his country had a tragic experience when Albania was going through very difficult times and thousands of immigrants reached Italian shores every day.

"It was thanks to the collaboration between the Italian government and the authorities in Tirana that the influx was finally curtailed. In this case, Tripoli's collaboration is essential. Italy can encourage collaboration between Malta and Libya but the agreement depends in the bilateral relations between Malta and Libya," Mr Fini said.

It is claimed by certain quarters that Italy's military assistance to Malta comes at a price, which is the huge search and rescue region for which the Armed Forces of Malta are responsible. Asked to comment about this, Mr Fini ruled out this was the case.

"It's a case of establishing the general rules of commitment. Then it is up to military authorities to coordinate efforts," he said.

Informal talks between the visiting delegation and the Maltese authorities continued over lunch.

In the morning, Mr Fini addressed an international congress of the Società Dante Alighieri being held at the Radisson SAS Baypoint Resort.

Before meeting Dr Frendo, Mr Fini held talks with Tonio Borg, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs and Justice, and paid courtesy calls on President Eddie Fenech Adami and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.