Malta enters political dialogue with the EU

The General Affairs Council today agreed to extend the current multilateral political dialogue with the Central and Eastern European applicant countries, and Cyprus, to Malta. The Council considers that an enhanced dialogue on foreign and security policy issues with Malta will be beneficial to both parties, allowing Malta to familiarise and align itself with Common Foreign and Security Policy instruments, as well as to co-operate fully with the Union in international fora.

This decision is a welcome development in the process of Malta's complete reinsertion in the accession process, and an important step along the road to Malta's objective of being included in the first enlargement.