Bilateral Relations

Maldives and the European Union

The Maldives established diplomatic relations with the European Union (EU) in 1983 and the Maldives Mission to EU was established on 1st April 2008.

On 22 May 2019, H.E. Mr. Hassan Sobir presented his Letters of Credence to the President of the European Council, H.E. Mr. Donald Tusk, at a ceremony held at the Headquarters of the General Secretariat of the Council.

The EU Delegation accredited to Maldives is based in Colombo and the EU Ambassador who heads the Delegation office in Sri Lanka has full diplomatic status.

Until recently, the informal forum for discussions with the EU was the “Maldives-EU Policy Dialogue” - a Maldivian initiative- which is held every year in Male’ with participation of the EU Ambassadors based in Colombo. On 8 August 2019, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the European Commission, Mrs Federica Mogherini, paid an official visit to the Maldives. This was the highest-level visit by the EU to the Maldives to date. During the visit, a new mechanism on diplomatic consultations with the EU was established, the Senior Officials Meeting.

The first Senior Officials Meeting between the EU and the Maldives was held in February 2020 in Male’. The discussions were co-chaired by Ahmed Khaleel, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and Pacific, European External Action Service. The second Senior Officials Meeting between the European Union and the Maldives was held on 10 September 2021 in Brussels. The discussions were co-chaired by Abdul Ghafoor Mohamed, Foreign Secretary of the Republic of Maldives and Ms Paola Pampaloni, Deputy Managing Director for Asia and Pacific at the European External Action Service.

Trade

The EU is one of the Maldives' largest partners.

In October 2019, the first EU Business Roundtable was held in Male’, co-chaired by the Maldives Minister of Economic Development and EU Ambassador to the Maldives. The discussions aim to facilitate and improve trade relations and investment coming from European countries to the Maldives.

For more infomation about trade with the EU:

Maldives' export to EU countries

Maldives Customs Service

Tourism

Tourism statistics show that European tourists make up nearly 50% of all arrivals, with over 500,000 European nationals visiting the country each year.

Development Cooperation

Since 1981, the EU has been providing development assistance with a special focus on climate change, the protection of the environment and good governance. Security issues, in particular the fight against terrorism and violent extremism/radicalisation, have also come to the forefront of the cooperation and dialogue between the EU and the Maldives.

To support the Maldives’ Covid-19 response, the European Union announced EUR 3 million grant funding to the Maldives in April 2020 for the country’s health sector and the tourism industry. In addition, the European Investment Bank announced a EUR 20 million loan to the Maldives to help address the effects of Covid-19. In November 2021, EIB’s Board of Directors agreed to approve the extension of the loan to the Bank of Maldives with additional 20 million euros to help address the effects of Covid-19.

The EU has allocated a total of EUR 6.5 million to support the Government of the Maldives in the development and implementation of its climate change strategy and action plan in 2009.  In June 2019, the Government of Maldives signed a Financing Agreement of EUR 5 million with the EU, to support the Government in implementing its Nationally Determined Contributions. In addition, a EUR 45 million loan to assist projects in renewable energy was signed in 2016 between the Government and the European Investment Bank (EIB).

Maldives has also ongoing projects with the EU to support counter-terrorism efforts, strengthen democracy, and promote human rights.