Malta | Day

High Commissioner Hamilton welcomes guests to Malta’s EU Presidency launch concert

Maltese artist Josette Fenech shows her exhibition Horizons to Mr Peter Paul Meli (Malta)

Cyprus High Commissioner Mr Euripides Evriviades, High Commissioner Hamilton, Danish Ambassador Mr Claus Grube and the Ambassador of Luxembourg Mr Patrick Engelberg

Artist Josette Fenech makes some opening remarks about her exhibition

High Commissioner Hamilton with members of the Big Band Brothers

High Commissioner Hamilton and Nerissa Sultana of the Maltese High Commission welcome the Ambassador of Lithuania Mrs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė

The head of the EU Commission Office in the UK Mrs Jacqueline Minor welcomes guests to the concert

An enthusiastic Maltese diaspora joined in singing a traditional Maltese song before giving the Big Band Brothers a standing ovation

Big Band Brothers

Fellow EU Presidency trio Ambassador L’Ubomir Rehak of
Slovakia, Commonwealth Secretary General Baroness Scotland, High Commissioner Hamilton and head of the EU Commission Office Jacqueline Minor watching the performance

Malta’s moment
The EU’s smallest member state Malta launched its first-ever EU Presidency with something big, a riotous performance by the Big Band Brothers; and something wide, an exhibition of Malta’s mind-opening Horizons by artist Josette Fenech.
It was just the sort of pick-me-up everyone needed at the start of an exciting, yet very challenging Presidency, as Maltese High Commissioner Norman Hamilton reminded guests.
“The upcoming Brexit negotiations; the ongoing discussions on the relevance on the EU; the security challenges Europe is facing; and the continuing efforts to address the challenges posed by migration adds to pressures,” he said, but added that Malta would approach these challenges with typical Maltese resoluteness so that the Presidency would be “a significant building block towards a more relevant Union and the revitalisation of the European Project.”
PHOTOS: MALTA HIGH COMMISSION