We are all aware of the intensity and scale of the very different events that have followed each other in the last few years – from the massive south to north influx of people seeking a better life, and the financial and debt crises, to the “Arab Spring” – and it is worth noting that despite, our country has managed to steer ahead.
The Foreign Affairs Ministry has pursued Malta’s political interests abroad while at the same time providing support to Maltese businesses to expand their portfolio further afield and providing assistance to Maltese citizens through its support services. The Ministry has sought to further rationalise and prioritise the work of Malta’s embassies overseas, which are the essential infrastructure of our country’s influence abroad, providing and facilitating investment attraction and trade opportunities for Maltese enterprises. They support our economy and help Maltese businesses access markets abroad. They promote our values and help craft vital agreements that make our islands so attractive to investors. They also assist our nationals abroad to maintain a living link with their country of origin and provide consular assistance in times of crisis. Our embassies are the ‘front office’ of our foreign diplomacy and I am proud of the results achieved so far.
Malta has also been proactive over the last years in seeking the conclusion of a series of bilateral agreements, protocols and memoranda of understanding in important sectors. Since October 2008, the Ministry has negotiated and successfully concluded over 80 legal undertakings with other European countries alone in many important areas, including double taxation agreements, research and development, training and cooperation, visa representation and education, health and culture, etc. There have been a conspicuous number of high-level visits to Malta from practically all European capitals, and Malta’s relationship with other member states of the Union has continued to grow from strength to strength. The Ministry has also offered consistent support to the accession perspective of European States wishing to join the EU, particularly drawing on its own experience of the EU accession process.
Through proactive diplomacy and candid dialogue we have also managed to overcome challenges on sensitive issues. Malta has acted as a broker between EU states to safeguard the national and collective interests of our Schengen partners and we have a steady relationship with our neighbours, both northern and southern.
We have managed to put our concerns on Europe’s agenda, while keeping our focus on our strategic objectives. On the subject of irregular migration, we have been able to convince a very good number of European states to assist us in the relocation of migrants from Malta, thus putting into practice the essence of the European principle of solidarity. I am certain that our track record as a serious and reliable partner at the heart of international institutions has been a factor in this relocation process.
Today, Malta is host to the European Commission-League of Arab States Liaison Office, which has formalised relations between the European Commission and the Arab World. We are also hosting the European Asylum and Support Office, a decision that signified a further remarkable achievement in Malta’s short history as an EU member state. Of the 12 countries that have joined the EU since 2004, Malta was the fourth – following Poland, Lithuania and Hungary – to win a bid to host an EU agency or body. Our diplomatic efforts paid off in one of the quickest agency decisions of recent years. Apart from the prestige of hosting such an important agency, and the economic benefits it brings to the country, the EASO is working to deliver tangible results to over-burdened member states such as Malta in the area of asylum.
While the resulting interconnection of economic, financial, social, political and environmental systems at the global level is accompanied by increased instability and growing vulnerabilities, it also brings us myriad opportunities from which, notwithstanding our size and limitations, we can reap benefits.
As a small island state, our relevance can only be enhanced through our steady and unremitting diplomacy which, I am convinced, is the cornerstone of all the success we have achieved. I am equally certain that standing together with our European friends can make our Union an unparalleled centre of success, credibility and growth.
David Agius is a member of Parliament and is the Government Whip and Parliamentary Assistant in the Foreign Affairs Ministry