Illegal immigration is one of the top priorities Slovenia has set for its EU presidency, its Prime Minister, Janez Jan‘a, said after meeting Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday.

Mr Jan‘a said his country was fully aware of the problem and would strive to increase the spirit of solidarity and co-operation between EU member states, especially now that the Schengen area had been enlarged. Mr Jan‘a said the introduction of the euro in Slovenia in January 2007 did not bring about high inflation, since it was limited to between 0.3 and 0.6 per cent.

He admitted that one of the biggest mistakes that his country had committed when introducing the euro was the short dual pricing period after adoption. He said that if he had to do it again, he would increase this period from six months to at least a year "because in this way consumers would be able to control prices".

Mr Jan‘a congratulated Malta for its excellent achievements in such a short space of time.

Dr Gonzi's meeting with Mr Jan‘a was followed by a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, who, while he was European Commission President, was an instrumental figure in Malta's EU membership bid.

The Italian Prime Minister said he was ecstatic that Malta, such a close friend to Italy, had managed this "tris" of achievements: EU membership, accession to Schengen and the introduction of the euro.

Prof. Prodi expressed his wish to improve the presence of banking and financial institutions in Malta and on the need to draw up a common Mediterranean policy for the environment.