OPR- Thursday, 12th January, 2006

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

Excellencies,

Members of the Diplomatic Corps,

In welcoming you all to this Presidential Palace, I thank you, Mgr. Del Blanco Prieto, for the kind words you have expressed as the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps accredited to my country.  May I also convey to you, on my behalf and on behalf of the People of Malta, my best wishes for this New Year which has just begun.  I also ask you to convey to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI my warm regards and greetings of the Maltese People.

Excellencies,

I address you today, at the beginning of this New Year, and, instinctively perhaps, memories of a year that is ended return to the fore of our thoughts, as well as our dreams, hopes and aspirations for the year ahead of us.

I cannot but begin my address to you all today by rendering homage to the life and work of a great man, “the man of the century” in the opinion of many, His Holiness Pope John Paul II.  A boy from small-town Poland who grew up to become Pope; he was the most travelled Pope in history and very much a man of the world.  Pope John Paul II had a very important message to deliver, a message of peace, a message of conciliation.  I believe that homage is due to this great man by all of us, irrespective of our personal religious and philosophical beliefs.

Excellencies,

This past year has been Malta’s first full year as a member of the European Union.  Malta has integrated its structures within those of the European Union, giving a positive and constructive contribution as well as benefiting from the new possibilities and advantages that membership thereof has got to offer.

The European Union has come a long way since its inception in 1957.  The founding fathers of what is now the European Union – Jean Monnet, Robert Schuman, Konrad Adenauer and Alcide de Gasperi – were convinced that the origins of conflict in Europe lay in the continent’s system of competing nation-states.  As Schuman put it, “because Europe was not united, we have had war.”  Those founding fathers were determined to build a new union in Europe that would banish conflict for good.  Their building blocks were economic, but their goals were political.

The great achievement resulting from this vision lies in the fact that in 2006 a continent that had been wracked by war for centuries can look back on sixty years spent largely at peace.  A continent that was divided by the iron curtain until 1989 now enjoys free movement of people and common political institutions for twenty-five countries, stretching from the Atlantic coast of Portugal to the borders of Russia.

It is our belief that Malta adds to and strengthens the Mediterranean dimension of the European Union, acting as a “bridge” across cultural divides which are being felt strongly even within the very European Union as clashes flare up in some of our countries as a result of factors that inhibit the integration of persons from different cultural backgrounds within our communities.  As we are well-aware, this is a very dangerous turn of events that has led and could lead to much human suffering as a result of the animosity and violence that it engenders.   

Excellencies,

The importance that the Member States of the European Union attach to their relationship with their Partners of the Southern Mediterranean is characterized by the Euro-Mediterranean Partnership, commonly known as the Barcelona Process and constituting a wide framework of political, economic and social relations.  At the summit commemorating the 10th Anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration Malta proposed the setting up of a Network for Integrated Marine Resource Management, consisting of competent centres in all the partner countries to safeguard the Mediterranean Sea.  I would like to reiterate the importance that Malta attaches to its proposal and the hope that it will be carried forward and implemented with a view to protecting the Sea that is in fact our common heritage. 

Today I also address our southern neighbours and I would like to express Malta’s continued desire to strengthen ties with your countries and to work together on all levels – political, social, economic, cultural and educational – for the well-being of our nations and for peace and fruitful cooperation in the Mediterranean region.  Malta’s collaboration with its Southern partners in various projects has invariably engendered a very positive and productive discussion and concrete action to the benefit of both sides.

Excellencies,

A significant event in our country during the course of the year which has just ended was Malta’s hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, a unique forum for consultation at the highest level of Government.  It was my country’s pleasure to host the Heads of Government of the members of the Commonwealth which represent one quarter of the world’s nations and people.  The meeting produced a communiqué reaffirming a strong condemnation of all acts of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, while underlining that international cooperation to fight terrorism must be conducted in conformity with international law and that States must ensure that measures taken to combat terrorism comply with their obligations under international law, in particular human rights law, refugee law and international humanitarian law.  The “Valletta Statement on Multilateral Trade”, also agreed upon during this meeting, contained a powerful message from the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth calling for fairness and equity in multilateral trade issues, and for developed countries to give more than they receive.  While progress was made at the subsequent World Trade Organisation ministerial conference in Hong Kong, more is left to be done to address the special needs of poor countries and vulnerable small economies.  Let us hope that this may be achieved in the near future.

Excellencies,

The twenty-first century is the century of information.  Information and communication technologies have multiple possibilities of making the world a fairer and safer place, for example, in combating poverty, in ensuring better access to medical care, in ensuring access to education, in strengthening the economy and stimulating trade, in promoting democracy and guaranteeing cultural diversity and even in furthering understanding among peoples.  Information technologies boost our efforts to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.  As Nobel Prize Winner Shirin Ebadi, an Iranian lawyer and human rights activist, stated when addressing the opening of the World Summit on the Information Society held in Tunis last November – we live in an epoch in which access to information is the principal vehicle to development and to progress.  However, we must not forget that, if these technologies are used unwisely, they may result in the exact opposite of what we expect from them – they may be harmful to society by increasing the divide between rich and poor.  Information technologies democratise access to knowledge.  We must pursue the vision of an open and inclusive information society, the benefits of which will be available to all. 

Excellencies,

Sadly among the most-reported events in our daily news are the tragic events that occur frequently, even regularly, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Afghanistan and the Middle East.  I would like to express my desire, and that of the People of Malta, that such conflicts be resolved and peace restored.

I would like to take a moment to focus upon the situation in the Middle East.  The issues in the Middle East have to date proved well nigh intractable and have long defied attempts at a solution.  Conflict is fuelled by the long memories of both sides, Israelis of thousands of years of Jewish suffering and the existential need for Jews to have their home in a defensible space; Palestinians of displacement and loss, of political impotence and economic hardship and of humiliating defeat and anger.  While progress on the Middle East Peace Process and achieving a just solution to the conflict are of significant importance, I believe that it is essential to achieve not only a political solution but that each side genuinely forgive the other and no longer remain trapped in the past.  Political philosopher Hannah Arendt wrote that “forgiving serves to undo the deeds of the past, whose ‘sins’ hang like Damocles’ sword over every new generation.”  It is my firm belief that forgiveness has the power to change the world.  It has been said that justice is the impersonal process of law, forgiveness the personal restoration of moral order.  Justice rights wrongs; forgiveness rebuilds relationships.  In the words of Jewish philosopher and theologian Jonathan Sacks, “until Israelis and Palestinians are able to listen to one another, hear each other’s anguish and anger and make cognitive space for one another’s hopes, there is no way forward.”  The world is in need of a way forward, of breaking the cycle of revenge that haunts this conflict zone and continues to spur much violence and cause much human suffering.

Another conflict zone that has been the focus of a lot of attention during the past year has been Iraq.  I trust that the results of last December elections will lead to the creation of a stable government that will be able to imbue the country with the stability and consolidated democratic structures that are essential prerequisites to the country’s reconstruction and development.

Excellencies,

The new scourge of the international scene is the phenomenon of international terrorism.  While I also add my voice to that of those who strongly condemn all acts of terrorism, I believe that there is only one way of winning the so-called “war on terrorism” and that is of communicating with those who hate the West, communicating our truth and listening to theirs.  The alternative is that we shall spin ourselves into ever deeper mistrust and mutual destruction.

Excellencies,

From the countries struck by the tsunami to the conflict zone of Darfur, from nutrition emergencies in Niger and Malawi to crop failures in Ethiopia and Eritrea, and from the devastating Atlantic hurricane season to the Pakistan earthquake, during the course of this past year the world has suffered an extraordinary series of natural disasters, food crises and conflicts tearing at the fabric of life for tens of millions of people.  I would like to applaud those international organisations and agencies, Governments, non-governmental and voluntary organisations, as well as all other institutions and individuals who contribute to the continuing efforts to help rebuild people’s lives in such zones.  I would also like to express my appreciation of the fact that the Maltese nation has also been sympathetic towards the plight of others and generously played its part in contributing to such causes.

Excellencies,

At the national level a phenomenon of particular concern has been the unprecedented influx of irregular immigrants, placing a strain on the limited resources of our island.  The scourge of human trafficking is one of the foremost concerns not only of our country but also of the other countries in the Mediterranean region.  Ministers attending the Meeting of the Western Mediterranean Dialogue, commonly known as the 5 + 5, which took place under the Maltese Presidency in June of last year, agreed upon the need for countries of origin, countries of transit and destination countries to come together in an effort to bring about a comprehensive dialogue and to seek holistic solutions.

Several distressful accounts of human beings dying at sea in their attempted journey from the Northern coast of Africa towards Europe have reached us over the past year.  It is clear that those who imperil their lives in such a manner have little to lose, or a lot to fear.  I hereby appeal to the sense of human solidarity of all citizens of the European Union and of the other developed Nations of the world in the face of the plight of their fellow human beings.  I appeal to the sense of duty, obligation, sympathy and solidarity that we share in virtue of our universality as human beings.  We are different and the same, members of this family, that community, this history, that heritage, but also human beings as such.  While acknowledging our differences we ought never to stop abiding by moral universals – the sanctity of life, the dignity of the human person, the right to be free, to be no man’s slave or the object of someone else’s violence.  I believe that it is key in this respect to see the world as God’s work and humanity as God’s image. 

Excellencies,

This day I think of the children who are surely being born today in countries suffering as a result of the absurdity of conflict, war and genocide.  Let us stop this madness.  Let today’s children not be engulfed in war.  May the world provide a space in which they may flourish, be themselves and live to celebrate many New Years to come.  9/11 brought the vision of more terrorism and wars that no one could win.  May we overcome such moments and live together in peace, rather than tear our world apart.  May we be moved by that fresh young hope for humanity’s future which the children of today represent.

Excellencies,

I ask you to convey my best personal wishes to your Heads of State and Government.  To each and every one of you, I extend my warmest wishes, for peace and prosperity.