"If you want a strong common foreign policy, you need a strong defence and security policy," Greek Prime Minister Costas Simitis told reporters after a meeting with Danish counterpart Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Both Simitis and Rasmussen said that any decision on defence, one of the main topics on the agenda of a June 19-20 EU summit in Salonica, should be based on a unanimous vote.

Unanimous voting, which enables any member to veto a decision, is necessary to safeguard national interests, Simitis said, noting that Greece had often found itself alone on topics regarding its difficult relations with Turkey.

Rasmussen too said he was favourable to unanimous voting, although Denmark does not participe in the bloc's common defence policy.

Greece has already said in the past that EU defence policy should involve as many member states as possible, rather than just a small vanguard.

It has called Belgium, France, Germany and Luxembourg, the four countries holding next week a controversial "mini summit" on defence, to open it to other members.

Simitis and Rasmussen also discussed ongoing talks on a convention for the future of Europe, which are expected to close in early June, and the need to fight illegal immigration.

"Illegal immigration is a major problem for the EU, for countries neighbouring the EU, and for Mediterranean and east Europen countries," Simitis said.

"There are thousands of illegal immigrants waiting to cross our borders. We must agree on a common stance on many issues: how to finance our joint effort, how to share the burden among countries with outer borders, and others.

"Are we going to have a joint border police force, or better coordinate existing national police forces?" he asked.

EU leaders committed themselves to pursuing a common policy on immigration at a summit in Tampere, Finland, in 1999, but so far have failed to find an agreement, Simitis said.

He expressed the hope that the Salonica meeting would come up with answers and decide on concrete implementation steps.

SPACE.WIRE