French President Francois Hollande will be visiting Malta this October to attend the Euro-Mediterranean 5+5 meeting, timesofmalta.com has learnt.

The visit will be the first by the Socialist President after he defeated Nicolas Sarkozy last May.

He will be joined by fellow European leaders Pedro Coelho, Prime Minister of Portugal, and European Commission president José Manuel Barroso.

Mario Monti and Mariano Rajoy, prime ministers of Italy and of Spain respectively, are also expected but have not confirmed yet.

The summit, on October 5 and 6, will mark the grouping's first meeting since the Arab Spring, which saw regime change in two of the North African members, Tunisia and Libya.

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