VALLETTA, June 13 (Xinhua) -- Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Wednesday said European leaders were unlikely to reach any agreement on changing the Dublin Regulation that governs migration, during the European Council summit scheduled for later this month.
"I don't think its plausible and not because of what happened last week or next week," Muscat told journalists. "It hasn't been the case because of the divide, mostly between east and west in the way we envisage migration policy."
Changes to the regulations have been touted by a number of individuals in recent days, following a dispute between Malta and Italy on the fate of the Aquarius rescue vessel that had been stranded in international waters with 629 people on board on Sunday.
The Maltese prime minister said the Italian government's change in policy still needed to be evaluated, both by the Maltese government, and on a European level.
"The best way to go about it is to wait for official declarations in the summits rather than relying on tweets or social media," he said, adding that he would be meeting Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte at the summit.
Muscat said he hoped that the last days' events were just a "blip" in the relations between the two countries, adding that Malta aims to normalize ties with Italy.