Justice commissioner Vera Jourova will travel on a "sensitive mission" to Malta to meet ministers and law enforcement chiefs on Friday, the EU Observer has reported.

The trip comes in the aftermath of the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia "amid her allegations of top-level corruption on the Mediterranean island, with both EU officials and MEPs now getting involved to try to see that justice is done," the website said.

"I, of course, want to inquiry about the state of play in the investigation on the murder of Madame Galizia,” Ms Jourova had told a new conference in Brussels.

Three people have been so far charged for the execution of the murder but police have not yet identified who ordered the killing.

Her visit will increase pressure on Malta after the European Parliament expressed "serious concerns" about police independence and international money-laundering on the island in a resolution adopted last year.

Malta, together with other EU states, faces a sanction procedure for its delay in adopting new EU rules against money laundering.

Ms Jourova had said she wanted to address this issue in her forthcoming visit and also the strengthening of the Maltese agency to tackle money laundering, the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit.