Good afternoon everyone, thank you for being here.

I am very happy to have welcomed the Maltese Prime Minister, Robert Abela, to Palazzo Chigi today. This meeting concretises our work to boost the already very strong relations between Italy and Malta, two European nations, two Mediterranean nations, two nations facing many issues in common and that have extremely solid relations from a historical point of view, from an economic point of view, from a cultural point of view. Boosting our relationship is supported by alignment on many issues on the political agenda.

Prime Minister Abela and I have very often found ourselves at European Council meetings supporting common positions in defending our mutual national interests, but also regarding European dynamics - I am thinking of the issue of irregular migration flows; I am thinking of the opportunity, which is necessary, to continue to work together, especially in view of the next European Council meeting.

We intend to strengthen bilateral dialogue, at a political level and at a technical level, on a number of issues that are of key importance for our nations’ future: I mentioned migration but another fundamental issue is undoubtedly energy. The role of a nation like Malta in our strategic project to become an energy hub for Europe is clearly a crucial one; we are therefore working and discussing together with regard to the connection infrastructure needed between our nations and particularly in the relationship with North Africa. We have spoken about Tunisia and Libya, nations with whom we have frequent relations.

We are also convinced that renewed cooperation can further increase the interconnection between our economic systems: +10% in 2022 compared with the previous year, which is a figure we want to consider a spur to move forward in our relationship.

We have also made important progress on a number of historical issues regarding our bilateral relationship. We have agreed that, in order to improve this scenario, it is important to define the maritime borders of the respective exclusive economic zones: a long-standing issue that both are willing to take steps on in order to solve it. We believe this can be deeply strategic for our relations.

We have been working together in the energy sector for a long time, also thanks to the capabilities of Italian companies and our interconnections, especially regarding the Mediterranean and in the relationship with the European Union. Infrastructure is the main issue, in relation to which stronger cooperation and joint work can undoubtedly be extremely useful for everyone, for the future, for European supplies, for energy diversification, for energy security. Gas, hydrogen, renewable energies are therefore all issues we are working on together.
With regard to defence, we would like to strengthen our cooperation, which has so far given us a lot of satisfaction. As you know, the Maltese Archipelago is home to the longest running mission in the history of the Italian armed forces in the field of defence: this year marks 50 years of activity. This is therefore another matter on which our cooperation is very strong.

With regard to immigration, we have above all discussed the upcoming European Council meeting. We have agreed, and agree, on the fact that, without adequate defence of the European Union’s external borders, it is much more difficult to talk about secondary movements: the challenge is to work together on primary movements in order to also resolve the long-standing matter of secondary movements. From this point of view, we have worked with Prime Minister Abela to somewhat change the paradigm of these years of the European Commission. This issue is clearly not just about the security approach. We agree on the fact that investment and cooperation with African countries, in order to offer alternatives to illegal migration, is a key point of this work.
I have updated the Prime Minister on the recent European mission to Tunisia with President von der Leyen and Prime Minister Rutte. I believe adopting a joint declaration with President Saied was an excellent result, necessary to try and quickly reach a joint agreement between Tunisia and the European Union; we are very satisfied with the work we have done.

With regard to the economy and, again, issues regarding Europe – and I shall come to a close – we have also discussed the forthcoming reforms of the Stability and Growth Pact, the need to defend the strategic investments required by Europe and to take them into consideration in the new governance rules. This is another issue on which we can certainly work together.

We are also important allies with regard to international issues and support for Ukraine, which is never in question here.

I am very satisfied with the relationship that Prime Minister Abela and I have managed to build. It strengthens the already very solid relations between Italy and Malta and I trust we will do even better in the future.

Thank you.

[Courtesy translation]