The meeting in Zaragoza between French Prime Minister Francois Fillon and his Spanish counterpart Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero has given both countries an opportunity to come to an understanding on immigration.

Madrid has announced its support for the European pact on immigration, proposed by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy. Paris takes over the Presidency of the European Union on July 1.

But Madrid opposes the controversial ‘integration contracts’ suggested by Sarkozy, which would bind immigrants to learn the language of a host country. Illegal immigration was on the agenda of talks between Libyan President Muammar Ghaddafi and Italian leader Silvio Berlusconi in Tripoli.

The latter is trying to find a solution to the frequent influx of refugees boating from north Africa to the island of Lampedusa.

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