Libya helped Malta deal with the migration issue during the first half of the year as the world battled the COVID-19 pandemic, Prime Minister Robert Abela said, calling out the EU for its lack of “concrete action”.

Speaking ahead of a meeting with Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Abela said EU member states had yet to provide “tangible and concrete help”. 

“In the worst part of the pandemic, it was Libya that helped us. We speak of Libyans as our trusted friends,” Abela said. 

The prime minister’s comments come a day after the government met with Libyan Prime Minister Fayez al-Sarraj who flew in and out of Malta on Monday.

While acknowledging that some EU countries had helped with the relocation of some of migrants brought to the island, this was not enough and more needed to be done to help Malta. 

According to Abela, Malta’s position on the issue would remain unchanged as long as the member states did not step up and support the county. 

“It is not just our problem but a European problem. I insist on the point of having a mechanism of relocation that would kick in automatically. Today, we do not have such a concrete mechanism,” Abela said. He iterated that solidarity needed to transform into action. 

On his part, Borrell acknowledged that Malta was facing a “big problem” with migration and called for a permanent solution to address the issue soon.

He also acknowledged that the EU needed to look at a new approach that would ensure the issues are dealt with.

“Malta is an important part of the mission,” he said.