Sept 28, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
The EU
MED9 Summit is to be held in Malta on Friday, as the heads of a number of EU
states will travel to the island.
The group is mainly formed of Mediterranean states.
Croatia
Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic, Cyprus President Nikos Christodoulides, France
Prime Minister Emmanuel Macron, Greece Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis,
Italy's Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa,
Slovenia's Prime Minister Robert Golob as well as Spain's State Secretary for
the European Union Pascual Ignacio Navarro Ríos will be joining Malta's Prime
Minister Robert Abela for the summit.
European
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and President of the European Council
Charles Michel will also be present for part of the summit.
In a press
briefing about the event, the Head of the OPM Secretariat Glenn Micallef gave
an overview of the topics that will be discussed. These include irregular
migration, strategic partners in the Southern Mediterranean, the mid-term
revision of the 7-year EU budget, Ukraine, the economy, energy prices, climate
change and more.
The MED9
summit comes at a time when the EU, and the Mediterranean states in particular,
face a number of challenges. Aside from irregular migration, which is always a
topic at the top of the agenda for a number of states, when it comes to the
climate this summer saw wildfires in Greece, Spain and Italy, floods were
witnessed in Libya and scorching temperatures hit parts of Europe, including
Malta.
The summit
is also being held after a number of ministerial level MED9 meetings took place
In Malta over the past months. For example, the MED9 energy ministers, who met
in Malta in May, committed to making the Mediterranean region a green energy
hub that can lead the EU's drive for a decarbonised, energy-independent Europe.
"The Med9 countries agreed that the Mediterranean can become a centre of
renewable energy investments, with a focus on offshore renewables and new energy
interconnections between EU and non-EU Mediterranean countries, to facilitate
European investment in green energy," a government statement at the time
had read.
Aside from
the summit, a number of bilateral meetings are also expected to take place.
Malta media