By H. E. Joseph Cole, Ambassador of the Republic of Malta to the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
Strategically located at the centre of the Mediterranean, the Maltese Islands have been traditionally known for their booming tourism industry. However, their important location, the clear political commitment to ensure sustainable economic activity and the islands’ highly qualified workforce, has ensured that Malta has become increasingly respected in the areas of trade and investment. In recent years, Malta has demonstrated both economic resilience as well as an ability to thrive.
This year Malta has the special privilege to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malta and the Kingdom of The Netherlands. Diplomatic relations were established in 1965. Throughout the annals of our diplomatic history, the relationship between both countries has been guided by trust, goodwill and respect for each other.
The bilateral relations between Malta and The Netherlands will be further strengthened in the coming months when Malta and The Netherlands together with Slovakia form the EU Presidency Trio for the period January 2016 to June 2017. In 2018 Malta’s capital city Valletta and the Dutch city Leeuwarden will have the honour of holding the title of European Capital of Culture.
It goes without saying that the Mediterranean features as a central pillar of Malta’s foreign policy. Malta is not only an EU Member State, but a Mediterranean EU Member State. In view of its geopolitical location, Malta’s cultural, trade, economic and political contacts with the Arab world go back decades, and in some cases centuries and it is therefore only natural for Malta to undertake its role as the natural contact point between the two shores of the Mediterranean.
Malta was also the prime advocate on the need to strengthen peace and security in the Mediterranean which is directly linked to peace and security in Europe. In this regard, Malta’s actively participates in all international and regional fora aimed at transforming the Mediterranean into an area of dialogue, peace, cooperation and prosperity. The current challenges being faced in the Mediterranean make Malta’s role ever more important and relevant to ensure stability in the region.
Malta is pleased to host the European Commission-League of Arab States Liaison Office (ECLASLO) as a unique structure between the two regional organizations. The Office was set up following the first meeting between the European Union Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the League of Arab States Foreign Ministers in Malta upon an initiative undertaken by Malta in February 2008. The aim of this Office is to generate mutual contact between the European Union’s institutions and those of the Arab League.
The coming months will be very challenging for Malta as it hosts the EU/Africa Summit in November bringing together EU and African leaders to discuss how Europe and Africa can cooperate together to face current challenges and seek further opportunities how to consolidate the relationship between both continents.
For the second time since 2005, Malta will also be hosting the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting. The Commonwealth is a voluntary association of 53 independent countries almost all of which were formerly under British rule. 53 Head of States together with their foreign ministers will be going to Malta to discuss the future of the Commonwealth.
This year also marks the 450th anniversary of the Great Siege of Malta. This historic event marked the Maltese islands and significantly shaped Malta’s and European history.
Fifty-one years ago Malta joined the United Nations. That’s the year when Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life imprisonment in South Africa and the year when Martin Luther King received his Nobel Peace Prize. For a small, nascent state such as Malta, it was a year of promise and new beginnings as it took its place among the august members of the United Nations. The United Nations found a trusted and reliable partner in Malta, willing to contribute, in ways large and small, to the causes of international peace and security.
I will cite just two examples:
The first is Malta’s association with the Law of the Sea; a widely acknowledged role since Malta was instrumental in the launching of the international process that would eventually lead to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.
The second example comes shortly after, in 1988, when we were one of the first Member States to highlight the risks of climate change to the global community within the UN fora.
In 2014, Malta together with Algeria, France, Italy, Jordan, Morocco, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Tunisia, Turkey, United Kingdom, and the United States, launched an International Institute for Justice and Rule of Law. This Institute, hosted in Malta, provides training for the police, educators, religious and community leaders, and policy makers. It brings together communication experts and law and enforcement agents who can help governments and communities learn to protect themselves from challenges like terrorism. It will also work with educators to give teachers the tools to protect at-risk children from recruitment from extremists.
Culture is one of the vehicles through which Malta and Gozo can interact with other communities, societies and countries. The role of the Cultural Diplomacy Unit within the MFA is to engage local and foreign cultural agencies to avail their intellectual and material resources to the coaching of a proper programme of events in the context of a particular occasion together with the Missions overseas.
All this revolves on the issue of a good management strategy which could either fine-tune the method of collaboration or if necessary take direct measures to see to it that an umbrella entity is identified and assigned with the responsibility to coordinate the required assistance to a particular event.
The Cultural Diplomacy fund which is managed through the unit gives incentive and initiative to the Missions overseas to organize and participate in cultural events that reflect both the local Maltese character as well as the intercultural dimension.
It is simply amazing what a small country like Malta with a population of less than half a million can do.
