The Home Affairs Ministry this afternoon welcomed the European Commission's special pledging conference on Malta's intra-EU resettlement pilot project, to be held next week.

The ministry said in a statement that this development showed that Malta was scucessful in presenting its arguments at EU level.

"With this announcement, the Commission is once again acknowledging the particular challenges Malta is facing with regards to migration," the ministry said.

The conference – the first of its kind – was announced this morning in Brussels by the EU's Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom and is aimed to encourage member states to show 'concrete' solidarity and burden sharing with Malta.

It is to be held in the margins of an extraordinary Justice and Home Affairs Council meeting in Brussels on May 12 which will discuss a raft of new proposals aimed at creating a Common EU migration system.

Commissioner Malmstrim said that she is hoping that many member states make their official pledges to relocate refugees currently stuck in Malta during this conference.

The Commission's initiative follows its decision last month to prolong the pilot project specifically designed for Malta so that member states can relocate persons given asylum status by the Maltese authorities.

So far only a few member states made pledges to Malta, amounting to less than 200 placements.

Commissioner Malmstrom appealed member states to translate their 'nice words' on the need of solidarity with the island into 'concrete action'. However she said that the Commission cannot impose obligatory solidarity as member states are sovereign in taking such decisions.

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