Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is insisting he will not mince his words at Thursday’s EU summit meeting but yesterday appeared to tone down his EU-bashing rhetoric on immigration.

Meeting Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, who was in Malta for a couple of hours yesterday, Dr Muscat said he would gauge the political willingness to change the migration status quo at the summit.

Irregular migration will be discussed during Friday’s session of the meeting of the 28 member states’ heads of government.

It was put on the agenda in the wake of two migrant tragedies between Lampedusa and Malta when overcrowded boats capsized leaving hundreds dead in the sea earlier this month.

Dr Muscat has over the past weeks said he would not leave the meeting unless a European solution was found and words of solidarity were translated into concrete action. He also said the Government was leaving all options open.

This cannot be a Greek or a Maltese solution, but a European solution

But yesterday the Prime Minister acknowledged there was no quick-fix solution to the immigration phenomenon and insisted council meetings had nothing to do with victories, when asked what he would consider to be a victory.

He said council conclusions were all about adopting the right wording, adding he was not interested in changing the odd word that could mean everything and nothing.

“We will say it if the council meeting fails... we are not willing to take people for a ride,” he added.

Dr Muscat was speaking at a press conference with Mr Samaras at Auberge de Castille, where both countries agreed on a common position on migration. Mr Samaras travelled to Italy last night to meet Prime Minister Enrico Letta.

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.

Dr Muscat insisted Mediterranean countries were going to the council with a plan of action and not just a list of complaints.

“We will harp on conceptual issues such as burden, or rather, responsibility sharing but we will also insist on a coherent return policy because European cooperation exists only on paper,” he said.

Dr Muscat said unsuccessful asylum seekers remained in the country, because obtaining travel papers from their country of origin was next to impossible.

“It is up to [EU border control agency] Frontex to coordinate flights for the repatriation of these people and when countries of origin don’t issue travel documents the EU has to find legal means to issue the papers itself.”

A European migration strategy also had to rope in countries of transit such as Libya, he added.

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

Mr Samaras insisted the sea borders of Greece and Malta were also Europe’s borders and Europe had 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 was who would finance what when it came to controlling the EU’s borders.

Mr Samaras said Greece had as many irregular immigrants as unemployed people and this was creating social problems.

“Lampedusa has put the issue in the limelight but this has been going on for years in Greece and the region. We cannot go on in this way both politically and socially.”

Greece takes over the six-month EU rotating presidency in January.

Greek loan boosts Malta debt

Malta contributed nearly three per cent of its GDP towards the Greek financial crisis and the EU’s related financial mechanism last year, according to Eurostat statistics published yesterday.

While the island had €66 million in outstanding intergovernmental loans in 2011, 12 months later this shot up by €121 million, reaching a total €187 million or 2.7 per cent of GDP.

The higher Greek lending almost equalled the increase in Malta’s annual debt for last year, which rose by 1.8 per cent of GDP.

In 2010, the EU and the IMF had to step in to help Greece deal with massive debts and avoid default following the global financial crisis.

Euro area member states had to bail out its economy with an initial €110 billion loan, followed by a second loan of €130 billion.

According to the EU’s statistics arm, Malta’s government debt at the end of 2012 stood at €4.8 billion or 71.3 per cent of GDP.

It also increased its deficit to 3.3 per cent of GDP, which was 0.5 per cent or €41 million higher than in 2011. This brought the island’s total deficit to €225 million, which was still lower than the EU average.