Valletta, Malta - A group of 43 Somali would-be immigrants was rescued Monday off Malta, authorities on the Mediterranean island said.

Brussels - Tiny Malta obtained a symbolic victory Thursday as European Union leaders acknowledged that the burden of asylum- seekers entering the bloc should be shared out among member states.

At a summit in Brussels, EU heads of state and government formally approved a European Pact on Immigration and Asylum.

The pact seeks to improve the management of legal migration into the EU, tighten controls on illegal immigrants and construct a common asylum policy.

Under pressure from Malta, whose geographical location in the southern Mediterranean Sea regularly exposes it to a massive influx of migrants from North Africa, leaders agreed to share out the country's burden, if only in principle.

Valletta, Malta - Greek Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis said Friday that the European Union needs to strengthen its border patrols, and eventually create a European Coast Guard.

Speaking after talks with Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi in Malta, Karamanlis said illegal immigration was a major concern for both Greece and Malta and it was important that the EU responds "jointly and effectively."

Valletta - The European Union is right in demanding an end to state subsidies for Polish dockyards, according to Lech Walesa, the co-founder of the Solidarity union movement born in the shipyards where he once worked.

Poland's government signalled Wednesday that EU officials have refused privatization plans for its ailing shipyards and said it would ask Brussels for an explanation.

With 60,000 shipyard jobs at stake, EU approval for a rescue plan that avoids mass layoffs is a critical task for Prime Minister Donald Tusk's government.

Valletta, Malta  - The German Minister of State for Europe, Gunter Closer, has pledged his country's support to Malta on the problem of illegal immigration at bilateral and European Union levels, the Maltese government said Tuesday.

"The smallest EU member state cannot be left on its own when facing such considerable challenges," the Maltese Home Affairs Ministry quoted the German minister as saying during a meeting he had with minister Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.

Valletta, Malta  - Several bodies spotted floating in the sea off Malta, prompted fears Wednesday that the find signals another shipwreck involving would-be immigrants trying to reach Europe.

The exact number or nationality of the dead remains unclear as the bodies still have to be recovered from the sea, officials on the Mediterranean island said.

The captain of a French navy vessel first alerted Malta's rescue centre on Tuesday of the presence of six bodies off the island.