The Malta Summit comprised a meeting between U.S. President George H. W. Bush and U.S.S.R. leader Mikhail Gorbachev, taking place between December 2-3 1989, just a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall. It was their second meeting following a meeting that included then President Ronald Reagan, in New York in December 1988. During the summit, Bush and Gorbachev would declare an end to the Cold War, although whether it was truly such is a matter of debate. News reports of the time referred to the Malta Summit as the most important since 1945, when British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Soviet premier Joseph Stalin and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed on a post-war plan for Europe at Yalta.

Brent Scowcroft and other members of the US administration were initially concerned that the proposed Malta Summit would be "premature", and that it would generate high expectations but result in little more than Soviet grandstanding. However, French President François Mitterrand, British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, other European leaders and key members of the US Congress prevailed upon President Bush to meet with Chairman Gorbachev.

Malta ⁱ/ˈmɒltə/, officially known as the Republic of Malta (Maltese: Repubblika ta' Malta), is a Southern European country consisting of an archipelago situated in the centre of the Mediterranean, 80 km (50 mi) south of Sicily, 284 km (176 mi) east of Tunisia and 333 km (207 mi) north of Libya, with Gibraltar 1,755 km (1,091 mi) to the west and Alexandria 1,508 km (937 mi) to the east. Malta covers just over 316 km² (122 sq mi) in land area, making it one of the world's smallest states. It is also one of the most densely populated countries worldwide. The de facto capital city of Malta is Valletta; the largest town, Birkirkara. The main island comprises many towns, which together form one Larger Urban Zone (LUZ) with a population of 368,250 according to Eurostat. The country has two official languages, Maltese (constitutionally the national language) and English.

Throughout history, Malta's location has given it great strategic importance, and a succession of powers including the Phoenicians, Greeks, Romans, Arabs, Normans, Aragonese, Habsburg Spain, Knights of St John, French and the British ruled the islands. Malta gained independence from the United Kingdom in 1964 and became a republic in 1974, whilst retaining membership in the Commonwealth of Nations. Malta was admitted to the United Nations in 1964 and to the European Union in 2004. Malta is also party to the Schengen Agreement and in 2008 it became part of the eurozone.

Mario Monti (Italian pronunciation: [ˈmaːrjo ˈmonti]; born 19 March 1943) is an Italian economist and academic who has been the 54th Prime Minister of Italy, as well as Minister of Economy and Finance, since November 2011.

Monti served as a European Commissioner from 1995 to 2004, with responsibility for the Internal Market, Services, Customs and Taxation from 1995 to 1999 and for Competition from 1999 to 2004. Monti has also been Rector and President of Bocconi University in Milan.

On 12 November 2011, in the midst of the European sovereign debt crisis, Monti was invited by President Giorgio Napolitano to form a new technocratic government (in Italian, governo tecnico) following the resignation of Silvio Berlusconi. Monti was sworn in as Prime Minister on 16 November 2011, just a week after having been appointed a Senator for Life.

Monti was born in Varese on 19 March 1943. His mother was from Piacenza. Although his father grew up in Varese, he was born in Luján in the Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, where the Monti family had emigrated in the 19th century and built up a soft-drink and beer-production business. Monti's father went back to Argentina during World War II, but later returned to his family home in Varese.

Lawrence Gonzi (born July 1, 1953) is a Maltese politician who has been Prime Minister of Malta since 2004. He was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Malta from 1988 to 1996, Minister of Social Policy from 1998 to 1999, and Deputy Prime Minister from 1999 to 2004. As Prime Minister, he has also been leader of the Nationalist Party (Maltese: Partit Nazzjonalista) since 2004.

In 1987 Lawrence Gonzi contested the general elections unsuccessfully with the Nationalist Party. He was appointed Speaker of the House in 1988 and, in 1992, he was reappointed to the post with a unanimous vote. Gonzi contested the general elections again in 1996 and this time he was successful. As an opposition MP he served as Shadow Minister for social policy, secretary of the Nationalist parliamentary group, party whip and later general secretary of the party.

In 1998 he was returned and appointed Minister for Social Policy. In May 1999 he successfully contested the post of Deputy Leader of the party and was appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House. Following another Nationalist victory at the polls in 2003, Lawrence Gonzi was reconfirmed as Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of the House.

Joseph Muscat (born January 22, 1974) is a Maltese politician who has been leader of the Labour Party and Leader of the Opposition in the House of Representatives of Malta since 2008.

Muscat graduated Bachelor of Commerce in Management and Public Policy from the (University of Malta, 1995), Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Public Policy (University of Malta, 1996), Master of Arts in European Studies (University of Malta, 1997) and Ph.D in Management Research (University of Bristol, 2007).

Muscat worked as a journalist with the Party's radio station, Super One Radio (today One Radio). He later took on a similar role at Super One TV (today One TV).[1], becoming the station's assistant head of news in 1996. He was also editor of Party's online newspaper, maltastar.com [2] between 2001 and 2004.

Muscat was as a member of the youth section of the Labour Party, the Labour Youth Forum (Forum Żgħażagħ Laburisti) where he served as Financial Secretary (1994–97) and Acting Chairperson (1997). He later served as Education Secretary in the Central Administration of the Party (2001–2003) and Chairman of its Annual General Conference (November 2003). During the Labour government of 1996-98 he was a member of the National Commission for Fiscal Morality (1997–98). Between 1998 and 2003, Joseph Muscat campaigned actively against Malta's membership in the European Union.