The strengthening of Malta and the UK’s bilateral relations in matters related to home affairs was the main item on the agenda during Minister for Home Affairs and National Security Carmelo Abela’s first meeting with his British counterpart Amber Rudd since she took up duties as Secretary of State for the Home Department in July.
In a bilateral meeting held at the Home Office in London on Wednesday 7th September 2016, Secretary Rudd and Minister Abela stated theimportanceof further enhancing European
Secretary Rudd said that, in spite of the UK’s decision to relinquish its EU membership, the country will still remain very active on the European level, particularly in the light of its leading role in the security domain.
She also expressed her commitment to carry on with work that had begun under her predecessor, now Prime Minister Theresa May, with regard to collaboration with Malta to assist its police force through the provision of training and assets.
Minister Abela explained Malta’s top priorities in the home affairs area during its Presidency of the Council of the EU in the first half of 2017, notably security and migration. He referred to British Secratary of State for Defence Michael Fallon’s visit to Malta in June, during which both sides reiterated their commitment to further their cooperation on defence and migration. It is imperative that fair, durable solutions are found for both the migration phenomenon’s internal and external aspects, he said, stressing that Europe’s credibiltity is at stake should the commitments taken during the November 2015 Valletta Summit on Migration not be translated into action.
The Minister was accompanied at the meeting by Malta’s High Commissioner to the UK, Norman Hamilton, and the Ministry’s International Affairs Political Coordinator, Alessandro Mangion.
While in London, the Minister and the High Commissioner also attended the ceremony of the re-opening of Shadwell Fire Station by HRH the Prince of Wales. On behalf of the London Fire Brigade, the Prince of Wales handed the keys to a fire engine to the Emergency Response Rescue Corps, a non-governmental organisation based in Gozo.
In his capacity as Executive Committee Member of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association on behalf of the Parliament of Malta and of the CPA’s British Islands and Mediterranean Region, Minister Abela also had a meeting with the CPA’s Secretary-General, Akbar Khan, at the CPA Secretariat in London.
