Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi today had a 90-minute meeting in Helsinki with the Prime Minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen on bilateral relations and illegal immigration.

At the end of the meeting Mr Vanhanen said that his country now had greater awareness of the immigration issue and would consider its position on the EU's pilot project for burden sharing.

Dr Gonzi said that yesterday's EU decision to set up its Asylum Support Office in Malta was further evidence that Malta was managing to get across its message on immigration.

He noted that Finland had been among the countries which backed the bid for the Office to be set up in Malta.

The two sides also discussed bilateral relations, which Dr Gonzi described as being good, but with potential for further improvement.

Dr Gonzi earlier had a meeting with the President of Finland, Tarja Halonen.

He will tomorrow have a meeting in Latvia with Latvian Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis.

Dr Gonzi is accompanied by Resources Minister George Pullicino.

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