Minister for Foreign Affairs, Dr George W. Vella held a meeting with the newly-appointed Ambassador of Bosnia-Herzegovina to Malta, Ms ?eljana Zovko. Earlier during the day the Ambassador presented her credentials to the President of the Republic of Malta.

Malta was one of the first countries to recognise the independence of Bosnia-Herzegovina in 1992. Minister Vella gave an outline of the relations between the two countries and mentioned aspects where possible trade cooperation can be explored, while improving cooperation in a number of sectors. Cooperation in the field of education was underlined, with particular focus on Malta’s credentials at the tertiary level.

Amongst the issues discussed, the Minister Vella referred to Malta’s readiness to assist all Balkan countries in achieving the best results towards accession to the EU, especially through economic stability and rule of law. The Minister added that during its EU Presidency in 2017, the Enlargement process will be a dossier that Malta will be following very closely. Malta, Minister Vella added, attaches great importance to development in the Balkans and believes that stability of the region, ultimately also benefit the European Union.

Ambassador Zovko thanked the Minister and expressed that the relations between the two countries will be characterised with further successes in the near future.

Minister Vella also had a meeting with Ambassador of Burkina Faso, Mr Abraham Traore. During the meeting the Minister was informed of the prevailing economic and political situation in this West African Country.

Minister Vella assured Ambassdor Traore of Malta’s willingness to cooperate in any way possible, given its limited resources, to help Burkina Faso prepare towards a better quality of life and a more stable economic scenario.

Minister Vella also discussed with Ambassador Traore the outcome of the Vienna Conference on Libya held earlier this week.