Malta has won the official support of Estonia for its bid to host the EU's asylum agency.
Estonia feels that the island "needs all the solidarity and help possible in its fight against illegal immigration and therefore the EU agency should be placed in Malta", Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip said after talks in Tallinn yesterday with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi.
"Although we value all the other countries that are also lobbying to host this agency, we feel that, at the moment, Malta should be the host of the European Asylum Agency as it will definitely help the island more with its efforts in this field," said Mr Ansip.
The setting up of a European Asylum Agency, which would be responsible for coordinating policy in this area and offering technical support to over-burdened member states, should be up and running by 2010. Last May, it was endorsed by the European Parliament.
The issue is expected to be discussed during a Justice and Home Affairs Council and, possibly, decided on during the October EU summit under the Swedish Presidency.
Earlier this year, Malta had signalled its desire to host the agency and the government is lobbying other member states for support.
The only other official candidate so far is Bulgaria but other countries are known to be interested and may choose to enter the game later on. Among these countries, Greece and Cyprus are also considered to be possible candidates.
A member state would need the support of all the others in order to become the host nation of an EU agency.
Malta could be on the right track, according to an EU source speaking in Brussels yesterday. "However, it's a long road and Estonia's endorsement is another good step for Malta in the lobbying process," he said.
Malta has in the past bid unsuccessfully to host other EU agencies including Frontex, which went to Warsaw, and the Union for the Mediterranean, which was assigned to Barcelona.
Illegal immigration and the euro were the two main topics on the agenda of the Tallinn talks yesterday.
Dr Gonzi reiterated that Malta would continue to insist on the need for concrete solidarity from the EU on immigration and on the need to launch the intra-EU resettlement pilot project as soon as possible. The project won the backing of EU leaders at their Brussels meeting last week.
"In the coming weeks we will continue to insist on having this pilot project up and running so that member states can start sharing the burden with Malta and other over-burdened member states," he told the press.
In the spirit of diplomatic reciprocity among small EU member states, Dr Gonzi offered Malta's help to Estonia in its bid to join the euro in 2011.
"Malta's experience in joining the euro means that Malta has had a stable monetary and financial system during the prevailing turbulent economic weather and this is helping us immensely to retain jobs and attract foreign investment. Malta is also in favour of extending the eurozone and supports the entry of Estonia," he said.
Mr Ansip described political relations between the two countries as excellent although business ties could be boosted as there was little trade between them. He mentioned the large number of Maltese-flagged ships passing through Estonian ports and said this was leaving "a healthy amount of trade in Estonia".
With a population of 1.3 million, Estonia joined the EU in 2004 at the same time as Malta.