COVID-19 and economic recovery dominate European Council summit

Prime Minister Robert Abela attended the European Council summit in Brussels on Thursday, with COVID-19 dominating the agenda.

Abela emphasised on the importance of the vaccine, highlighting that although cases have gone up, hospitalisations have decreased. The importance of battling misinformation campaigns was also discussed towards the meeting.

“Various leaders speaking about the subject said they were worried. hHowever, there is a common ground, including the importance of the booster dose,” PM stated.

The energy sector was once again on the agenda due to international pressure on energy supply and prices. In his intervention, Abela stated that Europe should seek long-term solutions that consider alternative energy sources like hydrogen, which are better for the environment and more affordable.

“In the immediate term, most importantly, we have to keep energy prices stable. What we are seeing around us is shocking, with gas prices going up from day to day. This is why we decided to keep sustaining residents and businesses,” Abela stated.

Immigration, security, defence and foreign affairs with Belarus, Ukraine and Ethiopia were discussed as well. Moreover, the Euro Summit was held, with discussions focused on the economic recovery and leaders agreeing on sustaining the recovery.

The PM also participated in the Eastern Partnership Summit, where meetings between EU and Eastearn leaders took place.