Malta and Somalia have established diplomatic relations in a move which Prime Minister Joseph Muscat hailed as "an important step forward in the context of the immigration crisis".

The Foreign Ministry said the documents were signed today by Foreign Minister George Vella and Somali ambassador Ali Said Faqi on the fringes of an EU-Arab League conference in Athens.

The establishment of such diplomatic relations will make it easier for Malta to request the help of Somali experts to identify whether migrants arriving here are genuinely from Somalia, the ministry said. Several hundred Somalis live in Malta, forming the biggest number of asylum seekers on the island. 

In September, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had talks with Somali deputy prime minister Yusuf Adam in New York.

Malta has, in the recent past, pledged financial help to Somalia. It has been actively engaged in training Somali military personnel and took part in action against piracy off the Somali coast in an EU mission.

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