Minister for Gozo Clint Camilleri attended a high-level conference in Cyprus organised by the European Commission together with the Cypriot Presidency, the conference was also addressed by Prime Minister Robert Abela.

During this conference with the theme “Strengthening islands and coastal communities of the European Union” the new strategy that the European Union has for islands and coastal zones was discussed and explained.

Minister Clint Camilleri stated that, “this is a strategy that as a country and as an island we have been demanding, we have been working to implement, so that Europe can better address the different realities, especially of the islands around the European Union as well as of the coastal areas. It is gratifying that European Commissioner Raffaele Fito also spoke about this when he came to the island of Gozo and we are seeing the work progressing and now we look forward to its implementation.”

He continued to say that ”this is a step in the right direction not only as a European Union in general but more than that, for various islands and coastal areas whose needs must be addressed, according to the particularities that exist in such areas as Gozo and Malta.”

This conference brought together European Leaders, Ministers, policymakers, regional and island authorities as well as stakeholders to launch the implementation phase of the new European Union strategy that has been adopted for islands and coastal areas.

Minister Clint Camilleri concluded by saying that he looks forward to the fact that through joint work, also on the part of the European Union, this strategy will be implemented and address the needs of islands such as Malta and Gozo.

Photo: DOI

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