One might argue, agree or disagree whether the issue of climate change should have been raised at UN Security Council or at UN General Assembly level, but overall I think it was commendable of the British government when it made a concerted effort last week to push climate change up the global agenda by bringing the subject up for discussion for the first time within the UN Security Council.

While obviously the subject remains a priority environmental item, people and governments are progressively becoming more and more aware of its economic dimension as well as its security aspect and implications.

No wonder that a group of former US generals recently issued a lengthy report wherein they called on their government to do more to counter climate change, warning that otherwise there could be significant national security challenges to the US itself – among others.

I tend to agree with this analysis particularly because of the point made that global warming could act as a “threat multiplier” by hitting volatile and unstable countries the hardest. Cases in point being Darfur and Somalia, where the rising global temperatures could also raise the political temperatures further in the conflicts resulting from struggles over scarce resources.

I hope to go into this subject in more detail at a later date but for the time being will limit myself to expressing my agreement that this issue is moving more and more into the realm of security and the economy.

As for a UN General Assembly debate, I think that the world owes it to the developing countries to hold a fully-fledged debate there too, especially if some of its members are likely to be the hardest hit by this issue.

Talking of the box office hit Al Gore movie on the subject, I found it intriguing but a bit too preachy and slightly self-indulgent. Otherwise it was eye-opening and stirring stuff right from the very beginning. To turn something so scientific into edge-of-the-seat material is no mean feat.

The need for Malta to be

an “honest broker” in

the Middle East

I am not implying that previous governments or this government do not mean well in their efforts for peace in the Middle East. But I think that for Malta to be perceived as an honest broker, it needs to forge a balanced relationship with the parties involved in the conflict.

While admittedly the point of departure must be the occupation of Palestine, we cannot ignore the security concerns of other parties engaged in the conflict too.

Where I disagree with some of my Israeli friends is when they claim as they did in Strasbourg that they do not consider the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as the major issue in the Middle East. Iran and fundamentalism might be a problem but I personally believe that a solution of the mentioned conflict will go a long way towards encouraging the promotion and construction of confidence-

building measures in the area.

The Strasbourg meeting of the Council of Europe sub-committee on the Middle East was intriguing on two counts.

First of all for promoting once again the idea of a Tripartite Forum between Israeli, Palestinian and European parliamentarians and secondly because of the colourful composition of the Palestinian and Israeli delegations.

On the Palestinian side there was a seasoned politician, Abdullah Abdullah who is the Chairman of the Political Committee of the Palestinian Legislative Council while Hassan Khreishe is an independent MP close to Hamas but not affiliated with it, who has been harshly critical of Fatah particularly when he lambasted PLO money hidden in accounts across the globe by claiming that such money needed to be accounted for as “it is the money of the Palestinian people.”

The Israelis were another study in contrasts too. On one hand there was the youngish moderate Kadima MP Yoel Hasson, while on the other extreme of the political spectrum there was Effie Eitam, head of the Renewed Religious National Zionist Party and the former leader of the National Religious Party. Living in a moshav on the “occupied” Golan Heights, he is a Brigadier General (Reserves) in the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) and is considered a war hero by the state of Israel for his distinguished service in the Yom Kippur War.

He was very uncompromising in his interventions, betraying the hawkish image he has even in his own country.

But the very fact that these four diverse characters managed to sit side by side in the same forum and address it in the most civil of ways was a minor achievement in itself.

Ironically although they both spoke of peace as being still distant in the Middle East, they coincidentally both came with a formal invitation to our committee to send a delegation to Israel and Palestine later this year. Evidence of their commitment and interest in stronger links with Europeans from whom both sides expect more, arguably for different reasons.

Louise Arbour and

Paul Naudi

Unfortunately Paul Naudi, a former Ambassador to Russia passed away while I was abroad. Having discussed Maltese-Russian relations with him many times, I must admit that in spite of his venerable age, the man was deeply committed to improving them, enhancing them and even giving them a higher profile in the near future. He will also be remembered for his sterling service to various governments as well as for his commitment to enhancing our international relations from Malta’s independence onwards.

I must confess that the first time I heard about Louise Arbour was when I watched a DVD about her hard times and strong endeavours in Bosnia to hunt down war criminals. Today she is the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and her address to the Council of Europe during the debate on the state of human rights and democracy in Europe was a telling lesson for us all.

In spite of her deep commitment against terrorism, she made the point time and time again that she commended the initiatives of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly to ensure that the fight against terrorism does not serve as a pretext to undermine fundamental human rights and to erode democratic values.

For both persons mentioned I have nothing but full respect, sympathy and understanding.

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Leo Brincat is opposition spokesman for Foreign Affairs and IT