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Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning appeared to tone down the harsh language on irregular immigration, insisting he will be gauging political willingness to change the status quo at this week’s European Council.

In a press conference with Greek counterpart Antonis Samaras at Auberge de Castille, Dr Muscat said he expected other member states to join Malta, Greece and Italy in a common stand for a European solution to immigration.

However, both prime ministers carefully avoided mentioning the member states that could cause problems in the quest for a common European approach to migration.

Asked what he would consider to be a victory, Dr Muscat said the outcome of the council had nothing to do with victories and he acknowledged there was no quick-fix solution.

“Councils are all about conclusions and wording but I am not so interested in words... We will be gauging whether there is real and actual political willingness to change the status quo,” Dr Muscat said, adding that if he got a sense that the council was all about words he would say so.

Last week, in the wake of a second tragedy involving a capsized migrant boat that could have left anything between 50 and 200 people dead, Dr Muscat had insisted he will not leave the summit without a solution and insisted that he was keeping all options open.

The Prime Minister insisted Malta and other Mediterranean countries were going to the council with a plan of action and not just complaints.

He mentioned as an example the need to have a common repatriation policy, which existed on paper but not in practice. He said the EU could issue travel documents for people whose asylum application was rejected.

Dr Muscat said Europe came together when it had a financial crisis and it should come together now that it has a humanitarian crisis, adding there has been resistance and procrastination.

Mr Samaras insisted the sea borders of Greece and Malta were also Europe’s borders and it was Europe’s responsibility to find a solution.

“This cannot be a Greek, or a Maltese solution but a European solution,” he said, insisting another issue on the council’s agenda is who will finance what when it came to controlling the EU’s borders.

JOINT PROPOSALS

Prime Minister Muscat said that the two countries will be putting forward a number of measures during the next Council. They include:

- a more coherent returns policy;

- the need that Frontex starts coordinating return flights;

- the issuance of legal travel documents to illegal migrants;

- a clear message to countries of origin that illegal migrants will be repatriated if they do not pass the test according to international rules; and

- the roping in of third countries, like Libya, in the fight against illegal immigration.

Dr Muscat said Greece is in full agreement with Malta that this political and social problem should be solved by being sensitive and humane to the problem.