EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos holds closed meeting with MPs

European Commission for migration, home affairs and citizenship Dimitris Avramopoulos is the latest Commissioner to visit Malta as preparations for January’s EU presidency intensify.

Avramopoulos is in Malta for two days, and has already met both Home Affairs Minister Carmelo Abela and Foreign Affairs Minister George Vella.

He is scheduled to meet Opposition leader Simon Busuttil. During his visit, Avramopoulos will also visit the European Asylum Support Office.

A meeting with members of parliament sitting on the committees for European affairs and social affairs was held behind closed doors. The livestream of the meeting was also interrupted.

Earlier today, during their meeting, Vella outlined the final phase of the ongoing preparations for Malta’s Presidency, emphasizing that migration will feature highly on Malta’s foreign policy agenda.

The Commissioner and the Minister discussed in-depth preparations for a follow-up meeting to the Valletta Summit which will be held in Malta on 8 and 9 February.

Amongst other files, Malta will have an important role in steering the EU’s discussion on the Global Compacts on migration that featured at the UN Summit on Migration held in September 2016 to address the large flows of refugees and migrants seeking asylum and economic opportunities respectively.