Heads of state from 11 countries along with President George Vella held talks in Malta on Thursday, discussing issues ranging from global injustice, war, the economy and development, to migration.  

The presidents invited to attend were from Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Estonia, Ireland, Greece, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and Slovenia and for the first time, they will be joined by the President of Slovakia. 

The so-called Arraiolos Group first met in 2003 in the town of Arraiolos in Portugal with the participation of six presidents who discussed the preparations for the enlargement of the EU and the discussions related to the EU's Constitutional Treaty.

Since then they have held regular meetings on a variety of topics.  

On Thursday a conference was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre marking the 17th meeting of this group.

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