Former EU sceptic appointed as Malta's president

Valletta (dpa) - A former foreign affairs minister who campaigned against Malta''s EU membership bid was appointed as the island''s 10th president on Thursday. George Vella, 76, doctor by trade, was sworn in during a ceremony at the President''s Palace in the capital Valletta. His appointment was approved by the ruling Labour Party and the Nationalist Party. Two Democratic Party parliamentarians abstained from the vote. In his inaugural speech, Vella referred to three political murders in the last 42 years, including that of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia, as "a blot on the national conscience." During a Mass to mark the appointment, Malta''s Archbishop Charles Scicluna urged Vella to be a defender of "Malta''s cultural, historical, artistic, architectural and natural heritage." Vella served as foreign affairs minister between 1996 and 1998, and then again from 2013 to 2017. He also served as deputy prime minister in the Labour government between 1996 and 1998, when Malta froze its EU application. Malta eventually joined the EU in 2004. He retired from politics after the 2017 election.  Vella takes on the largely ceremonial role from Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca, also a former minister.