Prime Minister Joseph Muscat sounded a sarcastic note as he walked into the European Council a few minutes ago.

From a recording of his comments to the media scrum waiting outside, provided by the European Broadcasting unit and then by DOI, Dr Muscat described the whole situation as ‘surreal’.

“Here we are,” he said, “while worried by illegal immigration and spy stories, having to discuss the digital economy.”

This was the first time in living memory that a Maltese prime minister stopped to talk to the media on the way in.

Asked by a woman journalist to comment about the spy story, Dr Muscat said ‘we must be friends with the US … but friends do not spy on each other.”

As EU leaders gathered in Brussels for an EU summit, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras told reporters that tackling illegal immigration is of 'paramount importance', specially in the South Mediterranean region. Samaras also added that European leaders will discuss 'digital union' and 'banking union' throughout the meeting.

The socialist party PES' president Sergei Stanishev, in the run-up to the summit, stated: "We have to act with urgency and find the right balance between asylum, immigration and border control. Even if there are five countries in the frontline, this is an issue that affects all 28 member states.