Brexit, migration and the situation in Libya were the topics on the agenda of a bilateral meeting between Malta’s Foreign Affairs minister Carmelo Abela and his Dutch counterpart Stephanus Abraham Blok.

Speaking in a press conference on Wednesday evening, Abela said that the meeting reaffirmed the excellent relationship that existed between the two countries and showed that both states were ready to take their relations beyond being simply partners within the European Union. 

Abela said that the meeting was used as an opportunity to discuss the situation in Libya today, especially after Malta welcomed the Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj to Malta for talks.  The migration situation was also discussed, Abela said, not just in terms of the recent happenings involving 49 migrants who were rescued by two NGO vessels, but also in terms of having a long term solution to dealing with such cases.

In fact, Blok said that whilst today was a day of solidarity which allowed the 49 migrants to arrive in Malta there was still the need to come up with a structured European mechanism and solution pertaining to the disembarkation of migrants in such cases including border procedures supported by Frontex.

Brexit was another point of discussion, with Blok noting that both countries were similar in the sense that both of them had strong ties, especially economically, to the United Kingdom.

Blok noted that the subjects of press freedom and rule of law were also mentioned in the discussion, namely through the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and through the report on Malta issued by the Venice Commission.

Blok will also be meeting Malta’s European Affairs Minister Helena Dalli as part of his visit.