VALLETTA, March 9: Malta’s Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami said on Sunday that 53 per cent of the island’s voters had said “Yes” in a referendum on whether to join the European Union next year.

“From projections and information I have it is very clear that the Maltese have said yes for Malta to join the EU,” he told a news conference. “Fifty-three per cent of the valid votes cast are yes and 45 per cent are no,” he added.

Malta, a former British colony and tiny island of barely 400,000 people which sits at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and closer to Africa than to European mainland, will become the smallest member of the EU. Saturday’s vote, kicked off a series of polls this year.—Reuters