The Maltese government yesterday announced that it has formally recognised Kosovar’s independence, becoming the 21 European Union member state to do so.

The announcement, preceded by an article in yesterday’s edition of The Malta Independent, came off the bat of Slovakia announcing that it would be recognising neither independence, nor the passports of the country on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the Maltese Foreign Ministry said that the issue of passport recognition will be taken up once both states establish diplomatic relations.

In a statement, the government said that formal recognition was made through a letter sent to Kosovar President Fatmir Sejdiu and Prime Minister Hashim Thaci.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that the recognition of Kosovo, a former Serbian territory, is in synch with the position taken by various European and Western World states. Dr Borg said: “There is no other alternative when one looks at the events that took place in and around Kosovo in the past 10 years.”

The Kosovo issue was discussed at Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee level on 7 July.

In its statement, the ministry said that Dr Borg had made clear his opinion that Malta should join the growing list of countries that had recognised Kosovo.