Malta’s top diplomat in Brussels has been asked to clear his desk, with sources saying his predecessor will be brought back to replace him.
Daniel Azzopardi will be replaced as Malta’s permanent representative to the European Union after less than two years at the helm.
Azzopardi was nominated to the post in July 2018 and replaced Marlene Bonnici, who is now expected to be brought back into the post.
If confirmed, it will be a sudden return for Bonnici, who was recently nominated Malta’s ambassador to Germany and presented her credentials to German president Frank-Walter Steinmeier hours earlier on Monday.
A Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson declined to confirm the change but said that the government would be issuing a statement announcing new appointments later on Monday.
Azzopardi declined to comment when contacted.
The decision to replace Azzopardi with Bonnici is likely to have knock-on effects on Malta's diplomatic missions in Berlin and Madrid.
Two separate sources told Times of Malta that Azzopardi is being touted as Malta's next ambassador to Spain, with the incumbent there, ambassador Vanni Xuereb, likely to be sent to Germany as Bonnici's replacement.
Azzopardi landed the Brussels post after leading the Energy and Water Agency in Malta between 2016 and 2018. He had previously worked in Brussels for several years as a technical attache.
'Inexperienced' and sidelined
Sources told Times of Malta that Azzopardi had been largely sidelined within the Brussels circuit, with key decisions taken in Malta.
“He was seen as inexperienced, and that can be a fatal problem in EU circles,” a diplomatic source told Times of Malta. “He did not have the authority to assert his leadership and found himself a bit out of his depth.”
Another source said that Azzopardi had struggled to build a network of contacts within the EU capital.
"He got the job right after Malta ended its EU Council presidency [in 2018] and that meant that he did not get the chance to cement himself there. He was asked to lead people who were already in the thick of it."
Problems were amplified when the migration crisis escalated in recent months, the source said: "Malta suddenly realised that Brussels is important".