The Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Angelino Alfano, this morning attended a working breakfast meeting at Villa Madama with the Ambassadors of the European Union Member Countries accredited in Rome. The initiative is part of the activities promoted by the Embassy of Malta during its rotating presidency of the EU Council which began in January and will end on 30 June 2017.
“Malta’s Semester of EU Presidency has no similar precedents in our history, with events that will have an enduring impact on our future,” said Minister Alfano when greeting the Ambassadors of the EU Member Countries.
“Marked by the Rome Summit and the United Kingdom’s official filing its decision to exit the EU, these have been months in which Europe has shown to have confidence in itself,” he added.
Mr Alfano also recalled the importance of the Declaration of Rome in giving new impulse to the project of the European Union: “Pro-European politics must adopt long-term projects that appeal to citizens. One of the challenges is to put in place and implement the differentiated integration policy, especially among those who are ready to make courageous decisions on issues that most interest our citizens: fighting unemployment, and managing migration phenomena and security,” added Minister Alfano, also recalling that “these are the issues on which we must work together to ‘get back in sync’ with the needs of the citizens of all our Countries.”
During the morning’s breakfast meeting, the Foreign Minister also talked with the Ambassadors of the EU Member Countries on foreign and security policies, economic and trade policies and of the major current events on the international scenario, spanning from the situation in Syria to the crisis in the Persian Gulf.
