MaltaMedia.com

Foreign Affairs Minister of Spain Miguel Angel Moratinos Cuyaube’ announced that Spain will be supporting Malta’s bid for hosting the European Asylum Support Office, an official press release stated Thursday. This was announced soon after the signing of six bilateral agreements.

“We understand Malta’s problem with illegal immigration and hence will put this problem as one of the priorities of the European Union during the Spanish Presidency during the first half of 2010. We want to go to concrete terms. Frontex will be given a new role, in order to be more efficient. The Spanish Presidency will be in close contact with Malta, Greece and Cyprus in order to achieve a new momentum and obtain much better results in immigration.” stated Minister Moratinos.

He said that the pilot project by the European Union, a project undertaken due to Malta’s pressure on the European Union now needs to be re-enforced with further measures. Deputy Prime Minister Dr Tonio Borg thanked his Spanish counterpart for this commitment on behalf of the Maltese population.

The six bilateral agreements are the result of months of discussions between the two countries. During the press conference shortly after the signing of the agreements, Dr Tonio Borg expressed his satisfaction for the excellent bilateral relations between Malta and Spain. This achievement will expand the network of bilateral cooperation on a number of important sectors and activities between the two euro zone member states.

The Deputy Prime Minister said that Malta and Spain share common views and experiences on a number of issues which are of importance to both countries. During the meeting held at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Deputy Prime Minister said that both parties discussed how they can strengthen their trade relations and open new opportunities for respective local investors who are keen to find new markets, especially in such an international economic scenario.

Minister Moratinos noted that Malta and Spain should strive to improve tourism between the two countries. It was highlighted that despite the slowdown in tourist traffic last year, arrivals from Spain have increased over the past year. This is mainly due to new routes between the two countries