Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Malta)
| Ministeru tal-Affarijiet Barranin | |
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 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Malta |
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| Agency overview | |
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| Jurisdiction | Malta and its diplomatic missions worldwide |
| Headquarters | Palazzo Parisio, Merchants Street, Valletta, VLT 1171 |
| Agency executive |
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| Website | foreign |
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs (Maltese: Ministeru tal-Affarijiet Barranin), formerly called the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is responsible for maintaining Malta's external relations and the management of its international diplomatic missions. The current Minister of foreign affairs is Honourable George William Vella.
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs is currently housed at Palazzo Parisio, a historic building situated in Merchants Street, Valletta.
Malta attained full independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and has maintained independent, official diplomatic relations with other nations since then. The ministry moved to its current location, within the Palazzo Parisio, in 1973, although the building itself was built in the 1700s and was once occupied by Napoleon Bonaparte during his Egyptian Campaign. The Palazzo Parisio has housed certain government operations starting in 1886 with Malta's General Post Office and, after World War I, the nation's Audit Office.
George William Vella has been the minister of foreign affairs since March 2013. Vella was born on 24 April 1942 at Zejtun and graduated in medicine at the University of Malta in 1964. In 1977, he was awarded a Certificate in General Aviation Medicine (Famborough, UK). Vella started his parliamentary career within the Labour Party (Malta) in 1978. He was subsequently elected Member of Parliament at the general elections held in 1981, 1992, 1996, 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013, when he was re-appointed as Malta’s Minister for Foreign Affairs.
From 1978 to 1987, Vella served as Leader of the Malta Delegation to the Conference of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe. Between January and May 1987, he was appointed as Malta's Permanent Representative at the Council of Europe. In 1992, he was elected as the Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs and spokesperson of the Opposition on Foreign Affairs. He also served as Vice Chairman of the Malta/EU Joint Parliamentary Committee. In 1995 and 1996, Vella was a member of the House Business Committee and the Foreign Affairs Parliamentary Committee.
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