President of the Hellenic Republic Karolos Papoulias who is on an official visit to Malta met with his Maltese counterpart George Abela and discussed issues of common concern as illegal migration. At a banquet held in his honour, in Valletta, on February 13, Papoulias stated that Illegal immigration is for Greece, as is for Malta, a major national and social problem and also constitutes a serious European concern. He added that Greece looked forward to a fruitful cooperation between the two countries to deal with their common problem.

Earlier, the Greek President, referred to the ties of friendship and peaceful coexistence between the two countries and stressed that Malta's accession to the European Union was during the Greek Presidency of the EU in 2003.

Regarding bilateral relations, Papoulias noted that economic cooperation between Greece and Malta, was a privileged area and expressed his optimism for the development of cooperation in the tourism and cultural sectors.

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