Malta and Greece will be seeking to form a common front on the irregular immigration of asylum seekers at this week’s European Council, with the two countries’ prime ministers insisting that the issue was Europe’s problem, and not just their own.

Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras arrived in Malta for a brief visit today – he will be meeting his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta later in the day – and immigration was a key topic in his talks with Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat. Immigration tends to dominate political discourse in both countries.

Both prime ministers observed that immigration was set to receive greater attention within the EU next year, since the Presidency of the Council of the European Union will be shared by two Mediterranean countries: Greece itself in the first half of the year, and Italy in the second half.

But in the shorter term, Dr Muscat expressed concern about the way “things are developing, or not developing,” on immigration in Europe, and said that he expected other EU member states to join Malta and Greece in a common stand calling for a European solution to the issue.

“Malta will continue to uphold its humanitarian duty, but since it is also guarding European borders, it cannot be left alone,” Dr Muscat said.

Last week, following the death of up to 200 Syrian asylum seekers on a boat which capsized within Malta’s search-and-rescue area, Dr Muscat insisted that he would not be leaving the European Council without a solution, although he was not as categorical today. Migration is not actually on the summit’s agenda – which focuses on economic matters – but Dr Muscat observed that the issue would nevertheless be discussed on Friday morning.

Dr Muscat emphasised that he would not be satisfied with meaningless words on the issue, and that Malta would clearly state where the Council might fail and will be gauging whether there was a political willingness to address the issue.

Malta and Greece, he explained, will not simply be going to the summit to complain, but will present a plan of action with measures including a more coherent returns policy, a proposal for Frontex to start coordinating return flights, the issuance of legal travel documents to immigrants, the roping of third countries like Libya – which is not a signatory to the UN Convention on Refugees – and sending a “clear message” to countries of origin that migrants will be repatriated if they do not qualify for asylum.

Whether the two countries are successful in their requests ultimately depends on the willingness of other countries to follow suit, but both prime ministers carefully avoided mentioning, when asked, the member states that could cause problems at the Council.

Mr Samaras, on his part, stressed that Greece and Malta’s external borders were also the EU’s own, and insisted that it was up to the EU to provide a solution, whilst emphasising that the issue should be dealt with sensitively and humanely.

But he insisted that the situation in Greece had become “appalling,” and that it was destabilising the country and creating a security threat for the entire European Union. He also pointed out that the number of “illegal immigrants” in Greece was roughly equal to the number of unemployed.

Both prime ministers insisted on using the term “illegal immigrants,” which is inaccurate when referring to asylum seekers, in their address, as did the Department of Information when reporting on their meeting.