Cyrus Engerer has stepped down from his role as the prime minister's representative to the European Union in Brussels.
He announced his resignation in a Facebook post, saying that after four exciting years, he had chosen to return to Malta and move on with the next step in his life.
Mr Engerer said he had told Dr Muscat of his plans in February but had accepted his request to stay on for a few months more.
Mr Engerer said his four years of service in Brussels had been even more satisfactory than he had initially imagined, culminating in Malta's presidency of the EU council. He had felt proud to be Maltese.
See Mr Engerer's post below.
Mr Engerer moved to the Labour Party from the PN shortly before the 2013 general election.
In 2014 he withdrew his candidacy for election to the European Parliament after he was found guilty of a criminal offence related to the distribution of pornography and given a two-year suspended jail sentence. The prime minister subsequently described him as “a soldier of steel” and recruited him as his advisor on EU affairs before making him his envoy as an ambassadorial grade.