Malta will benefit from EURO122,000 of EU funds for a Twinning “Light” Project between the Foreign Affairs Ministry and the Agency for European Integration and Economic Development (AEI) of Austria under the European Commission’s Transitional Facility programme.

Under this twinning agreement, AEI will provide assistance to strengthen Malta’s capacity to issue visas. The agency is a governmental platform for a joint Austrian strategy on the transition process of the new member states and the stabilisation and association process of the Western Balkan countries, as well as the professional administration and transaction of international projects.

It has the status of a fully mandated body for EU-twinning projects and has already implemented 29 twinning projects in Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Romania, Croatia, Hungary, the Russian Federation Albania and Malta.

Ann-Charlotte Nygard, acting Policy Development director at the International Centre for Migration Policy (ICMPD), will be supervising the project and will be responsible for expert co-ordination, management and implementation.

Substance experts for this project are drawn mainly from the Austrian Foreign Affairs Ministry, with additional input from experts from the German Foreign Affairs Ministry and from ICMPD.