(VALLETTA) - Malta on Tuesday called on the EU to share the burden of illegal immigration more evenly, during a visit by French Immigration Minister Brice Hortefeux, whose country becomes EU president in July.

"It is of vital importance to us that during the French presidency we create awareness of our problems among our European partners," said Justice Minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

"We hope also to have a better structure to deal with illegal immigration," he told reporters after he and Maltese Foreign Minister Tonio Borg met with Hortefeux.

"The subject was raised by both ministers, and we will take the occasion of various conferences during the French presidency to examine the proposals of Malta," Hortefeux said.

Hundreds of boat people arrive each year in the Mediterranean island, the EU's smallest member state, mainly from Libya and north Africa.

Asked about delays to a programme of patrols in the Mediterranean by the EU agency Frontex, reportedly because of French and German objections, Hortefeux said the French EU presidency would address legal immigration concerns affecting the entire bloc.

"France wants the means to strengthen Frontex and is proposing the creation of two directorates, one for land frontiers and the other for air-sea surveillance, to fight the migration influxes more effectively," Hortefeux said.

The ministers also discussed a French proposal for a European Pact on Immigration and Asylum, said Mifsud Bonnici.

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