Malta and Greece have had talks on cooperation on illegal immigration and will be meeting again in the coming weeks, along with Italy and Cyprus, to further discuss the issue.

Justice and Home Affairs Minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici discussed coordinated action by the four EU Mediterranean countries during talks in Athens with Greek Minister for the Interior Prokopis Pavlopoulos.

They agreed that issues such as migration should continue to be given priority during the coming presidencies of the EU.

"Both countries agreed that the Immigration and Asylum Pact should be transformed from words into action and that the absolute priorities should be the creation of a strong repatriation programme, the signing and implementation of agreements with countries of origin and transit, and the coming into effect of the burden-sharing mechanism," the Ministry of Home Affairs said in a statement.

Dr Mifsud Bonnici and Prof. Pavlopoulos also agreed that Frontex must be strengthened with more financial and logistical support.

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