HELSINKI (AFX) - EU leaders will consider taking joint action to combat illegal immigration during their informal summit in the Finnish town of Lahti in October, Finland's prime minister Matti Vanhanen said.
Vanhanen, whose country holds the EU presidency, said he has put the issue on the agenda at the request of France, Italy and Spain.
Italian prime minister Romano Prodi told reporters during a gathering of Asian and EU leaders here: 'Common action means not only common patrolling but cooperation with the adjoining countries these immigrants come from, but also an active development of these countries in order to help the economy.'
Their initiative came after European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso wrote to the leaders of all 25 EU member nations calling for more solidarity to tackle the growing problem of illegal immigration into the bloc.
Spain is also to host a meeting later this month of foreign and interior ministers from the eight nations controlling Europe's southern borders to discuss the issue. victoria.main@afxnews.com vm/sw COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited