Malta – Visit by Nathalie Loiseau (2 November 2018)

Ms. Loiseau and her Maltese counterpart, Helena Dalli, will discuss European priorities, notably migration policy, Brexit and the rule of law. With respect to migration, France and Malta share the same approach in support of a comprehensive, responsible and solidarity-based European solution, based in particular on compliance with states’ international obligations and the need for close cooperation with the countries of origin and transit.

The minister will visit the European Asylum Support Office (EASO), which has been based in Malta since 2011. She will discuss the reform of the agency with its interim executive director, our compatriot, Jamil Addou, and will reaffirm President Macron’s attachment to making EASO a true European asylum office.

Ms. Loiseau will also meet with Michael Farrugia, Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, and Carmelo Abela, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Promotion.

The minister and her counterpart will take part together in a citizens’ consultation on the future of the EU, in the presence of Michael Farrugia and Parliamentary Secretary for EU Funds and Social Dialogue Aaron Farrugia.

She will meet with representatives of Maltese civil society to discuss issues relating to integration and the situation of migrants, women’s rights and the situation of journalists in the archipelago. In this regard, the minister will reaffirm, during her meetings with the authorities as well as with Maltese civil society, the sense of shock prompted by the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia on October 16, 2017.