OPR- Fiday, 11th January, 2008

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Dean of the Diplomatic Corps,

Your Excellencies,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

I am very pleased to welcome you at The Palace to maintain a very warm and personal tradition: to exchange greetings at the beginning of a New Year.

Apostolic Nuncio,

I would like to thank you Monsignor Tommaso Caputo, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, for your kind words and best wishes. May I, in turn, express to you and to all the Diplomatic Corps, my very best wishes for the New Year. I also ask you to convey to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI my warm regards and the greetings of the Maltese people. 

Your Excellencies,

The first month of the Julian calendar, Ianuarius, is called after the god Ianus - the god with the two faces; one looking back, and the other, looking forward. The Romans, masters of pragmatism, knew exactly what the first month of the calendar brings to the minds of the people: an instinctive and sobering assessment of proceedings in the past year as well as an optimistic assessment of what lies ahead in the immediate future.

Looking back to 2007, Malta made three major achievements. On 13th December, Malta along with our partners in the European Union, signed the Treaty of Lisbon. The Treaty will enhance the role of the European Union in the world.

It has been felt for a number of years that the European Union needs to match its political clout with its economic weight. I think it is time for the European Union to bear its weight around the globe politically as it does economically. And it is appropriate for the European Union to shoulder more political responsibility with other state parties in seeking to resolve long-standing political problems, current conflicts and humanitarian crises. We believe the more enhanced political role of the European Union will be in the interest of all countries which genuinely seek compromised solutions.

The second historic achievement of 2007, which came into effect on 1st of January 2008, is Malta’s joining the European System of Central Banks and adopting the euro as the country’s official currency. This is a time of pride for us now that we are part of the euro zone, using the same currency, sharing the long-term benefits of what is fast becoming an international currency, and participating in the decision making in all monetary and financial matters relating to the euro zone. Our new participation in the common currency gives us another sense of belongingness to the European Community in that we can exchange our money for goods and services in a large number of member states.

On 21st December 2007, Malta reached another milestone with the European Union. Along with most other member states who joined the Union in 2004, Malta agreed to form part of the Schengen Agreement for land and sea borders, thus extending its borders to all other residents in the European Community. The Agreement will be extended to air borders by March 2008. From now onwards, our borders are the most southern customs point of entry of the European Union in this part of the Mediterranean Sea.

We strongly adhere to the notion that participation in the Agreement is beneficial to all parties. The realities of criminal activities force us to take appropriate measures to protect our citizens and innocent people from hardship and threats. Participation in the Schengen Agreement will vastly improve our information systems and help us to support the European Community’s effort to fight organised crime, illegal migration and international trafficking of illicit substances. Our participation in the Agreement will also boost our morale in that we are no longer on our own against formidable odds.

Joining the European System of Central Banks and the Schengen Agreement have completed the two missing links in our integration process with the European Union. We can now say: Europe’s destiny is our destiny.

Your Excellencies,

In November last year, we all welcomed the United States’ initiative to bring together all interested parties for a conference in Annapolis to pave the way to resume another peace making effort in the Middle East. It was a successful outcome in that the two main players agreed to resume talks for the umpteenth time in search of a solution to the crisis by the end of 2008. Like all other national leaders, I hope that the United States’ initiative will, this time round, achieve its objectives. 

We commend the French Government for hosting the Paris Conference of Donors for nations willing to pledge funds to help in the economic development of Palestine. The conference was a huge success in that a total of $7.4 billion were committed over a period of three years, that is, almost $2 billion more than the Palestine authority had sought. I congratulate the French government for the success of the conference as well as all those countries which pledged contributions.

The political and territorial challenges facing Israeli and Palestinian peace negotiators are formidable but familiar. The economic obstacles to the creation of a viable Palestinian state are also formidable, although the economic recovery plan presented by the Palestinian Prime Minister, Salam Fayyad, is certainly a step in the right direction.

There are two other aspects, however, which need to be addressed to ensure that, this time round, the stated objectives will be achieved. One aspect is the revival of commerce and trade. The Palestinian economy needs private investment to rekindle commerce and revive trade with the world. This can only happen once there is agreement to remove the barricades that seal off the West Bank communities from each other and there is a feeling that security is tight enough to ease the passage of goods through border crossing points without hassle.

And this leads me to the second aspect which is now required to achieve the specified goals. There is a need to match the economic program and assistance with a strong diplomatic effort to come to a compromised solution. There has to be a faith in that a compromised solution according to the conclusions adopted by the United Nations is in the best interests of all and that short term concessions will lead to long-term gains. This has been the hallmark of all peace negotiations in the past. And in my view, it still remains. Only then, we will see both Israel and the Palestine reaching a stage where both can exercise their full sovereign rights, promote economic growth and enhance the well-being of their peoples.

Your Excellencies,

As you are aware there are problems which are transcendental to national borders, problems which are relevant to each and every human being and, therefore, are incomparably more important than the issues fueled by economic calculations and national ambitions.   In the time that I have left I would like to touch on two of these borderless problems: managing climate change and preventing mass illegal migration.

I would like to make a few comments on the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change which was held in Bali, Indonesia. Going into the Conference, we were expecting to launch by 2009 negotiations leading to a global, comprehensive and effective post 2012 agreement on managing climate change and preventing the further degradation of the environment. 

I am fully aware that the objectives have not been fully met. It is no wonder that some environmental groups described the agreement as a ‘missed opportunity’.

I have been in politics for a long time and I am aware that in politics things could and often do change overnight. I hope that there will be such a change of heart to ensure that future generations will be able to enjoy our planet as much as we do.  

Your Excellencies,

I cannot conclude my address without mentioning events closer to home in the Mediterranean Sea. 

Malta has long argued for a comprehensive European migration policy to complement member states’ policies in order to meet the challenges and harness the opportunities which migration represents. It is necessary to have a political commitment to a coherent immigration policy in place before the Union can adequately tackle the issues of the management of migration flows and the fight against illegal migration.

I believe we are getting closer towards that objective. In November last year, the Euro-Med Ministerial conference on Migration made further progress on practical co-operation in all areas of migration. Moreover, the Second Africa/EU Summit identified migration as an area of mutual priority to which both sides agreed to seek common solutions. And the European Council endorsed a policy seeking coherence between migration and development. Malta has long advocated for this coherence in line with the conditions set out in the Cotonou Agreement.      

The demand for migration flows brings within its wake undesirable movements of illegal migration. Such movements are undesirable in that they are unmanageable, unrecorded, and non-monitored. There is a total lack of safety and health mechanisms to protect the would-be migrants and are purely motivated by profit. As a civilized country, Malta deeply regrets these movements of people particularly when such flows end up in disaster and tragedy. Human lives are being lost without trace, families divided and left to fend without incomes or uprooted without proper preparations. This is tragic for our societies in the twenty-first century.

The proper management of migration flows requires the strengthening of the integrated management of the external borders of the European Union. The establishment of Frontex and its monitoring of the Mediterranean Sea for illegal migration has certainly been a step in the right direction. Not that the Mediterranean Sea is the only entry point for illegal migrants into the European Union. I acknowledge that the enlargement of the Schengen Agreement has created even more complicated routes for illegal migration and raised the issue for increased awareness among members to check such flows. I would like to point out, however, that there is a need to address the particular pressures faced by member states.

I would like to address one other aspect associated with illegal migration flows: the establishment of an effective readmission and return policy. There is no way to stop the international crime in human trafficking and avoid human tragedies unless we, European Union member states and third countries sources of illegal migration, cooperate on a readmission policy. With such a policy in place, we will be issuing a signal that migration is possible, desirable and effective and is to the benefit of all parties. A proper flow management will help receiving countries to integrate their migrants whilst source countries can benefit from even higher remittances from integrated migrants.

Your Excellencies,

Looking forward into 2008 we look forward to a repeat of the democratic process in Malta to elect a new administration for the next five years. This is a high point in our calendar: a time when we renew our individual rights, ponder on our future and determine our electoral programme to follow.

Your Excellencies,

I only have left to wish you a very happy New Year and I hope this year will be good to you personally and to your countries.