Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said today other European Union nations cannot be forced to take would- be immigrants arriving in Malta to help the island nation deal with illegal arrivals, dpa reported. "Solidarity cannot be obligatory ... As long as decisions on immigration are left up to individual countries, they have to be on a voluntary basis," Tusk said. He was speaking at a press conference following talks with his Maltese counterpart, Lawrence Gonzi, in the island"s capital Valletta. However, Tusk promised Poland would give its support if a proposal on the so-called "burden-sharing," were to receive wide support among the 27-nation member EU. Malta has been calling on other EU member states to absorb some of its refugees. The tiny Mediterranean island has become the landing point for thousands of immigrants who each year attempt to reach mainland Europe from Africa. In July, France agreed to take 92 would-be immigrants from Malta, a move marking the first show of solidarity by a EU country since the signing of the EU Immigration and Asylum Pact in October 2008. In May the European Parliament voted to support the establishment of a mandatory, as opposed to voluntary, burden-sharing mechanism by 2011. However, observers say the new mechanism is unlikely to receive much at support in the EU"s Council, the bloc"s highest political body.
