Republic of Macedonia and the Republic of Malta have established diplomatic ties as a result of the intensive political and diplomatic contacts over the course of last year, said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday."This act is of exceptional importance because the Republic of Malta and the Republic of Cyprus were the only EU member-states that Macedonia did not have diplomatic ties with even after 26 years of our independence. At the same time, Malta is an EU member currently holding the Union Presidency", reads the press release.