Malta and Italy are heading towards the joint oil exploration of an offshore area long claimed by both countries.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Italian counterpart Enrico Letta made the announcement at a press conference in Castille yesterday.

Dr Muscat said a third meeting between technical experts from the two sides would take place before year’s end during which he expected a formal agreement to be reached.

“Discussions on oil exploration were stalled for many years but what has happened since July is without precedent,” Dr Muscat said, with reference to a meeting he had with Mr Letta in Rome in July that paved the way for technical talks.

An area for joint exploration was identified and although some details had to be ironed out, Dr Muscat said an agreement was possible “very soon”.

Mr Letta was confident of a positive outcome, adding that the delineated area for joint exploration could eventually be enlarged.

“After many years of difficulties we are close to a positive outcome and I look forward to inviting Joseph [Muscat] to Rome to sign the agreement,” Mr Letta said.

The Italian Prime Minister was in Malta for a few hours, arriving on Sunday evening and leaving yesterday afternoon. The visit coincided with a worsening situation in Libya after gun battles raged in Tripoli last week between rival militias.

Asked whether Malta and Italy’s concerns over irregular immigration from Libya were overshadowed by a worsening security situation there, Dr Muscat said Libya “could not be allowed to turn into a failed state”.

He admitted there were difficulties but noted that for the first time there was a realisation in Libya that security could not remain in the hands of militiamen, with Libyan Prime Minister Ali Zeidan warning that unless armed groups put down their weapons an international force may be needed to restore security.

“This is the first time I have heard such a statement coming from a Libyan leader,” Dr Muscat said. Mr Letta acknowledged that any EU solution on migration that roped in Libya had to include dialogue with all parties in the North African state, otherwise it would be “a short-term solution”.

With an EU summit less than a month away expected to discuss an action plan on irregular immigration in the Mediterranean, both leaders said they expected the summit to deliver results.

After many years of difficulties we are close to a positive outcome

“As a minimum we expect the EU to immediately restart joint repatriation exercises for failed asylum seekers,” he said, adding the situation in the Mediterranean was an ongoing emergency.

Mr Letta did not want to reply when asked about the Government’s cash-for-citizenship scheme, saying he did not want to meddle in domestic politics. Earlier, the Italian premier met Opposition leader Simon Busuttil, where migration was discussed.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com

Mother ship capture a ‘game-changer’

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat described the Italian operation that captured a mother ship over the weekend as “a game-changer”.

Not only did it have a humanitarian side – 176 Syrians were saved from a boat taking in water – but for the first time this was an effort to capture human traffickers and bring them to justice, he said.

The mother ship had escorted immigrants out to sea and transferred them to another boat before it was captured by the Italian navy.

The sting operation used submarines and aircraft to track down the suspect fishing boat, leading to the arrest of 16 alleged traffickers.

An overview of the operation conducted between Malta and Crete was given yesterday by Italian navy officials to Dr Muscat and his Italian counterpart Enrico Letta.

Dr Muscat was invited on board an Italian warship berthed in Grand Harbour after holding talks with Mr Letta.

At the army sea base in Pietà, both leaders also paid tribute to the personnel involved in a dramatic migrant rescue operation last month close to Lampedusa.

The Italian navy embarked on an exercise called Mare Nostrum last month after an earlier Lampedusa tragedy that claimed the lives of hundreds of immigrants.

A navy official said migration flows increased dramatically in the second half of this year, especially on boats leaving from Egypt and Lebanon.

The operation stretches over 400 nautical miles from Tunisia to Crete running south of Malta. The Italian navy wants to intercept migrant boats before they end up in emergency situations and crack down on human traffickers.