Watch: European Commission president in Malta, millions in grants approved
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen arrived in Malta on Thursday, where she handed out the first tranche of EU funds intended to help countries recover from the pandemic. Malta is expected to get €316 million in EU grants from the Recovery and Resilience Facility, which will go towards different projects and initiatives. The short visit comes a day after the president presented her keynote State of the Union address. Following talks at Auberge de Castille, she addressed a news conference with Prime Minister Robert Abela at Upper Barrakka Gardens in Valletta. Von der Leyen expressed her reservations to Malta's golden passport scheme and underlined the important role of journalism. Abela revealed that his government was working on the formulation of an anti-SLAPP bill. More to follow