Malta’s Permanent Mission at the UN in New York, together with the French delegation, piloted the negotiations and consultations with other UN members on a draft resolution granting observer status to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM) in the General Assembly.

The resolution was first adopted by the Sixth Committee (Legal Affairs) and later, without a vote, by the Plenary of the General Assembly.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg, who commended the Malta mission’s role, said that the decision by the UN General Assembly to grant Observer Status to the PAM will further strengthen the excellent relations which it has developed with the United Nations system during the past months. By this decision, PAM has been granted the right to occupy a seat in the General Assembly, intervene in important debates, and participate in the formal consultation processes.

The PAM secretariat is located in Malta in Palazzo Spinola, St Julian’s, which had been offered by the government of Malta in its efforts to further place the country at the heart of Mediterranean diplomacy.