EU Justice Ministers yesterday welcomed the initiative taken by Malta, Cyprus, Italy and Greece to devise a 12-month road map with priorities on how the EU should tackle illegal immigration. Following a presentation on the documents by the Maltese Justice Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici to an informal Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Prague, the EU's Czech President promised to draw up a new report based on the Quadro's document to be discussed by member states during another Council meeting.

Contacted in Prague, Minister Mifsud Bonnici said that Malta will relentlessly pursue the implementation of what had been agreed to in the Pact for Immigration and Asylum in the shortest time possible.

Fearing a slow pace on translating the Pact into action by the incoming Czech Presidency and Sweden, which will be at the helm of the EU in the last semester of 2009, the four Mediterranean countries are taking the initiative to propose the next steps the EU should take in its fight against illegal immigration.

Previously the Czech government had indicated that immigration in the south of Europe is not part of its priorities for the presidency. However, yesterday morning, the Czech Ambassador to Malta clarified that his country's presidency of the EU intends giving importance to the issue and build on the work already carried out over the past few months.

Ambassador Vladimir Zavazal said he fully understood the situation of illegal migration in Malta because the Czech Republic was also facing similar problems with an influx of Vietnamese people.

When faced with the comments of his Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Vodra that tackling illegal immigration was not a priority for his country's presidency, the ambassador said: "I mentioned the Illegal Migration and Asylum Pact agreed upon at the end of the French Presidency and we will continue to build on these foundations. Illegal migration has become a problem for the Czech Republic too and thus we feel the problem very strongly. I am aware of the problem in Malta. It's really critical.

"We strongly support everything about measures against illegal migration. We would also like to pursue common European measures against the illegal employment of illegal migrants."

When asked whether the Czech Presidency of the EU would try to strike an agreement with Libya similar to the one Italy has with that country, Ambassador Zavazal said it would. However, he said, this depended on 27 member states. "The national interests are different. We must find the common interests of 27 countries. We have this pact and we will continue in this sense," he said.