The President of Malta President Mr Guido de Marco and Mrs Violet de Marco will pay a state visit to Estonia from 2 to 4 May at the invitation of Mr Lennart Meri. The head of state of Malta will be accompanied by the Minister of Justice Mr Austin Gatt, also the Ambassador of Malta to Estonia Mr Eric Gerada-Azzopardi and other state officials.

The President of Malta will arrive in Estonia in the afternoon of 2 May and the official ceremony for the reception of the state visit will take place in front of the Presidential Palace at Kadriorg at 17:00. The Orchestra of the Defence Forces will play the state anthems of Malta and Estonia and the heads of state will inspect the company of special guard battalion standing as guard of honour of the Defence Forces. After the talks at Kadriorg and the exchange of orders and gifts, President Lennart Meri and Mrs Helle Meri will give a dinner in the honour of the President of Malta and his spouse in the Brotherhood of Blackheads Building.

On Thursday, May 4, President de Marco will meet at Toompea with the Chairman of the Riigikogu Mr Toomas Savi and Prime Minister Mr Mart Laar. Under the guidance of President Meri the guests will make a tour of Toompea and downtown, meet with the heads of the Tallinn City in the Town Hall and listen to a concert in the St. Nicholas's Church. In the afternoon they will take a special train to Tartu, where the President of Malta will have a meeting in the Tartu Town Hall with the Tartu County Governor Mr Jaan Õunapuu, Chairman of the Tartu City Council Mr Peeter Tulviste and the Mayor Andrus Ansip. The President of Malta will also meet with the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Estonia Mr Uno Lõhmus and will arrange a reception in the History Museum of the University of Tartu on the Toome Hill.

On Friday, President de Marco will meet with the Prorector of the University of Tartu Mr Volli Kalm and will deliver an academic lecture in the assembly hall of the University of Tartu. The press conference of the heads of state of Estonia and Malta will be held in the Atlantis Conference Centre. The Mayor of Tartu Mr Andrus Ansip will give a lunch to the heads of state of Malta and Estonia in the Atlantis Restaurant. The state visit of the President of Malta and his spouse to Estonia will end on Friday afternoon.

In connection with the state visit to Estonia, President Lennart Meri decided to award a Collar of the Cross of Terra Mariana to the President of the Republic of Malta Mr de Marco and the I Class Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana to Mrs Violet de Marco. The II Class Order will be awarded to the Minister of Justice of Malta Mr Austin Gatt, Ambassador of Malta to Estonia Mr Eric Gerada-Azzopardi, the IV Class Order of the Cross of Terra Mariana to the Private Secretary to the President Mr Joseph Tonna, Diplomatic Officer of the President Mr Roderick Sant, Vice-President of the IT Company Mr David Spiteri Gingel and the Communications Co-ordinator Ms Sylvia de Bono, the gold cross of the Cross of the Eagle will be awarded to the Aide-de-Camp to the President of Malta Mr David Mifsud.


Press Service of the Office of the President
Kadriorg, April 27, 2001

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