“As a front line Member State in a particularly compounded geostrategic part of Europe, Malta has a specific interest in championing a more resilient European Union. As one of our continent’s southernmost border posts, it is in Malta’s interest that the EU is capable of successfully identifying and dealing with both internal and external threats,” said Minister for Home Affairs and National Security, Carmelo Abela.

He was delivering the keynote speech at a seminar organised on Monday 18th April 2016 at the University of Malta, Tal-Qroqq, by the University’s Department of International Relations and the EU Institute for Security Studies under the theme ‘The EU Global Strategy: Maltese Views’.

Minister Abela said that the recent terror attacks in our immediate neighbourhood are a stark reminder that inaction, lack of preparedness, and nationalistic entrenchment are simply not an option for the European Union if it wants to increase security for its citizens while maintaining an influential role and remaining a relevant global actor. On that account, Malta welcomes the period of strategic reflection on the EU’s way ahead in the world, launched by the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, leading to the drawing up  by June 2016 of an EU Global Strategy for foreign and security policy that will enable the Union to identify a clear set of objectives and priorities for both the present and the future.

Minister Abela pointed out that the EU’s challenges are intertwined with those of the regions that surround it. “We cannot have a secure and prosperous Europe in an insecure and unstable neghbourhood and world,” he remarked. “Issues such as political instability, poverty, inequality, migratory flows, radicalisation, access to education, unemployment, and human rights violations in the countries surrounding us will inevitably spill over onto our soil. When that happens, it must find us well prepared to address the situation through a common vision and strategy, underpinned by a sense of unity and solidarity, as well as efficient communication and information sharing.”