Italy’s priorities under Prime Minister Matteo Renzi will be immigration and Mediterranean policy, the Italian premier told his Maltese counterpart Joseph Muscat during talks this afternoon.

Mr Renzi told Dr Muscat that the Mediterranean was to be considered as the heart of Europe during the Italian presidency of the European Union.

Dr Muscat said that Italy, together with Malta and Greece, was to remain united in their pressure at European level regarding irregular migration.

He said that through the Greece and Italian presidencies this year, Mediterranean issues related to illegal migration could be placed on top of the European agenda.

The two prime ministers also discussed energy and industrial relations policies as well as the excellent relations between the two countries and how these could be further strengthened.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.