Malta, 1997

I wish to join other delegations in

congratulating you, Sir, on your election to the presidency

of the General Assembly at its fifty-second session. I am

sure that, with your vast experience and diplomatic skill,

this Assembly will be guided towards achieving the goals

to which all peace-loving nations aspire. I also take this

occasion to thank your predecessor, Ambassador Razali

Ismail, for the efficient and energetic manner in which he

presided over the Assembly at its fifty-first session.

As we approach the dawn of a new millennium, the

international community continues to prepare itself for the

new challenges that the twenty-first century will

inevitably bring. Malta welcomes the commitment of our

evolving United Nations, ably led by Secretary-General

Kofi Annan, to become more responsive to and effective

in meeting these new challenges. Similarly, we share his

perception that the United Nations is at a moment of great

opportunity.

There should be little doubt that, with the demise of

bloc politics, the way has been opened for a world more

at ease with itself. Tension on a global scale has

diminished. At the same time, global instability has been

replaced by regional tensions that have often led to ethnic

and other localized conflicts. In our interdependent world,

the United Nations has a significant role to play in the

promotion of understanding and cooperation, which are

essential elements for the survival of humankind.

For its part, Malta is ready to work closely with all

Member States to strengthen our capacity for collective

action in the best interests of the States and peoples of

our countries, particularly in upholding the principles of

the Charter of the United Nations. Our commitment to

fundamental rights and the process of democracy is

unwavering.

Malta looks forward to the establishment of an

international criminal court in Rome in 1998. Earlier this

month, Malta was honoured to host an international

conference on this initiative, which we strongly support.

Our commitment to the setting up of such a court stems

from the fact that this court would be a landmark

development in the creation of a balanced and effective

system aimed at ensuring that international crimes,

5

especially mass violations of basic fundamental human

rights, do not remain unpunished.

We strongly believe that no country can enjoy peace

and prosperity in the true sense of the word unless

fundamental human rights are respected and unless the

State adopts a democratic system of government. Likewise,

Malta is committed to an international policy that promotes

disarmament and supports all measures that militate against

the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, including

nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. Malta fully

supports current efforts being undertaken to ban the

production and use of anti-personnel landmines.

Eleven months to the day after a democratic change of

Government in Malta, I must take this occasion to affirm

our commitment to peace, to cooperation among all nations

and to the pursuit of economic prosperity in a context of

social justice. Placed as it is at the southern rim of Europe

and at the geographic and strategic centre of the

Mediterranean, Malta stands by its commitment to the

ideals of European integration as well as to those of

Mediterranean unity. We believe that both these sets of

ideals are of vital importance, while being complementary

and in the best interests of all Mediterranean and all

European peoples.

In following up on these ideals, we have proposed to

the Maltese nation a vision of a role for Malta that tangibly

affirms the island's neutrality, in order to remove once and

for all any perception that Malta could be of any threat to

any of its neighbours, north or south, west or east. Within

this context, our vision projects for Malta a role that,

subject to our clear limitations of size and resources,

actively seeks to help build political, economic, social and

cultural bridges between all our neighbours and other

peoples of the Euro-Mediterranean space.

Indeed, Malta's foreign policy has three important

constituents. It is a foreign policy based on cooperation

with neighbouring countries, free of alignments yet open

and friendly to all; supported by an economic strategy

based on high-quality production and the provision of high-

quality services; and endeavouring to pursue excellence and

reliability in all that it seeks and undertakes.

Malta's foreign policy priority is to maintain the best

and most transparent relationship possible with all of our

neighbours in the Euro-Mediterranean region and beyond.

Our active neutrality foreign policy agenda aims to deepen

our ties with the European Union in a meaningful manner

while implementing an active Mediterranean policy to

encourage regional cooperation and unity.

Indeed, the Government of Malta aims to forge the

closest possible relations with the European Union by

negotiating ties in the form of a free trade area coupled

with a long-term political and security cooperation

agreement, and cooperation in technical, economic,

financial and social affairs.

We are equally committed to build upon our

Mediterranean identity and heritage by seeking to further

spur intra-regional networks of cooperation. Malta

strongly believes that such cooperation, based on dialogue

and mutual understanding, will contribute to a peaceful

Euro-Mediterranean region where Malta is ready to act as

a catalyst to bring together the diverse civilizations of the

Mediterranean littoral.

It is in this spirit that Malta speaks of and promotes

its active neutrality. We seek and promote peace and

stability in a troubled and complex region. Malta presents

no threat of any nature to anyone. At the same time,

Malta extends to all of its neighbours the engagement and

commitment of an honest broker, an intermediary or

simply a venue for dialogue and discussion, in the search

for a solution to the many problems which beset them.

The Government of Malta is determined to be proactive

in the quest for peace, and, in this context, we are

determined to enhance the trust needed to act in the best

interests of all of our societies.

Malta's neutrality is indeed validated by our

geostrategic position in the centre of the Mediterranean,

where political uncertainties, socio-economic disparities

and diverse cultural traditions all are contributing to an

area that remains plagued by tension and instability. Far

from being ideologically motivated, Malta's neutrality is

therefore a direct response to the very specific and unique

geopolitical factors that currently exist in the surrounding

region.

The Government of Malta believes that its strategy

of active, site-specific neutrality enables it effectively to

promote stability and understanding across the Euro-

Mediterranean region. Moreover, this status of neutrality

will continue to serve Malta's self-interests precisely

because it will also serve the best interests of the

European Union member States and of our Mediterranean

neighbours.

6

For Malta, the Mediterranean has been and continues

to be an integral element in our national development

programme. Malta's active participation in international and

regional forums is perhaps best described as an extension

of its cooperative security philosophy.

The Mediterranean is a microcosm of today's

multipolar world. The region epitomizes many of the

problems associated with the North-South debate. These

include maritime safety, maritime pollution, illegal

migration, terrorism and weapons proliferation. Malta is

particularly concerned at the ever-widening demographic

gap and the ever-widening economic disparities in the

Mediterranean region between the affluent North and the

underdeveloped South. Poverty, combined with a lack of

job opportunities and deteriorating living conditions, is

fueling extremist tensions throughout the Mediterranean.

Malta lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and

therefore believes it can act as a focal point in the effort

needed to attract the necessary attention and resources to

tackle security challenges in the region. The Mediterranean

is still dominated by areas of tension and conflict, which

require our constant vigilance. Israeli-Palestinian relations,

the Cyprus question, the situation in the former Yugoslavia,

the sanctions against Libya, the situation in Algeria and

other issues continue to create political tension, which is

unfortunately escalating and therefore creating a sense of

urgency in the finding of immediate and enduring solutions.

My Government thus believes that the perceived

threats to stability and therefore to security in the

Mediterranean are more of a political, environmental,

economic, social and humanitarian nature than of a military

one.

An important dimension of my Government's foreign

policy is directed towards the fight against drug-related

matters: illicit trafficking, money laundering and organized

crime. As a transit country, Malta could easily be open to

involvement in the web woven by drug traffickers.

Nevertheless, Malta is more determined than ever to face

up to this challenge, which is threatening the very fabric of

our societies. Malta calls upon the international community

for support in our efforts to eradicate this social plague.

The Government of Malta believes that the creation of

a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Mediterranean,

established on the basis of arrangements unanimously

agreed to by all the States of the region, would inevitably

contribute to peace and stability in the Mediterranean. This

fact was acknowledged by the 1995 Review and Extension

Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-

Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), when the

creation of such zones was encouraged.

The ultimate objective of Malta's Mediterranean

policy is the transformation of the region into a politically

stable and an economically prosperous, demilitarized and

nuclear-free zone. In this respect, Malta intends to make

maximum use of its contacts and available diplomatic

representation at the United Nations and in other

international forums to promote its political objective of

the Mediterranean Sea as an area of peace and stability.

Through regular diplomatic interaction with other Member

States at the United Nations, as well as through a more

active interchange and collaboration with the Office of the

Secretary-General, Malta intends to keep questions

relating to the Mediterranean high on the international

agenda.

Earlier this year Malta was host to the second Euro-

Mediterranean Conference, at which 27 States from

Europe and the Mediterranean held their second

ministerial meeting in as many years to forge a Euro-

Mediterranean partnership, an event which in itself has

far-reaching significance. The Malta Conference reiterated

that the serious and deep-seated problems of our region

need to be tackled through a process of dialogue and

common action, extending over a period of time and

covering a whole range of interrelated issues. It is Malta's

conviction that this process has generated a political

commitment that will effectively contribute to the removal

of the misperceptions and prejudice that still exist in the

region.

In its document on foreign policy published before

Malta's last general elections, held in October 1996, the

Malta Labour Party stated that for the United Nations to

improve its credibility and authority, it must improve its

structure, its administration and its competence. Above

all, it is hoped that this world Organization will develop

a more efficient mechanism by which it could implement

and execute its decisions more rapidly and effectively.

That is why Malta today supports the initiative of

the Secretary-General in presenting his report to the

General Assembly and congratulates him for what we

consider to be proposals of an unprecedented and

comprehensive nature.

This annual gathering provides the perfect setting for

the international community to come together and take

stock of the previous 12 months and to identify, as

7

precisely as possible, the challenges that lie ahead. We

believe that three types of trans-national security challenges

require our immediate attention. These are the war on

drugs, environmental degradation and the eradication of

poverty. Unlike the immediately visible effects of war,

these three challenges cannot always be defined with

sufficient clarity, although they have a potential for

destruction that is equivalent to that of war. Malta sees each

of these areas as a far-reaching hazard which threatens the

very fabric of our economic, human and environmental

habitat, leading to instability and presenting real threats to

our security.

The first challenge concerns the scourge of illicit drug

trafficking. Countless human lives are being ruined and

wasted to satisfy the greed of a few. This is an

unacceptable situation. Malta believes that the United

Nations system is well placed to coordinate this fight

through appropriate and effective measures. We therefore

welcome the recommendation of the Secretary-General that

the functions of the Commission on Crime Prevention and

Criminal Justice and the Commission on Narcotic Drugs be

consolidated into a single commission under arrangements

that will fully preserve the treaty-based functions entrusted

to the latter.

The second challenge we are facing on the threshold

of the twenty-first century is the reconciliation of

environmental concerns with development needs. The

common concerns and mutual interests of the international

community in promoting sustainable development, and at

the same time protecting our environment, cut across

national boundaries.

The problem of the environment is no less relevant to

Mediterranean countries. Sound management of Malta's

coastal and marine environments is of crucial importance

for an island State like Malta. The pressures exerted on the

Mediterranean environment as a consequence of its being

an important maritime highway and a tourist destination are

of particular concern. We believe that solutions to common

environmental problems are best found through an

integrated regional approach.

My Government is firmly committed to a proactive

role in supporting regional initiatives in the Mediterranean

for the conservation and sustainable management of its

natural marine habitat. Malta has contributed actively to this

process in the past, within the context of the Mediterranean

Action Plan of the United Nations Environment Programme

(UNEP) and the Barcelona Convention, the most recent

initiative being the setting up of the Mediterranean

Commission for Sustainable Development. Malta intends

to strengthen its participation in that Commission as well

as to contribute to the fullest extent to the Mediterranean

environmental programmes within the context of the

Euro-Mediterranean process.

Malta fully supports the efforts of the Organization

in the promotion of environmental protection and the

sustainable use of the world's natural resources to ensure

a more equitable distribution of wealth, and of an

international trade regime free of restrictive or

discriminatory practices. Together we must adopt an

effective course of action for the coming years that will

create the right balance between the need for human-

centred and socially just development and the need to

ensure the sustainability of our natural environment.

In the five years since the United Nations

Conference on Environment and Development, not much,

unfortunately, has been achieved. Last June's special

session made an in-depth appraisal of the progress

achieved, defined future priorities and helped to raise the

issue of sustainable development higher on the political

agenda. We acknowledge that all of us — developed and

developing, rich and poor — share a common interest in

the pursuit and attainment of development, which must be

sustained, equitable and integrated. In the words of the

Secretary-General, development is

“a pillar of peace, a foundation of stability, and a

powerful force for preventive diplomacy and

preventive action”. [Press release ECOSOC/5708]

However, our third challenge is what I consider to

be the most complex. For years, the international

community has been trying to come to grips with the

perennial problem faced by millions and millions of the

world's population: poverty. The ever-increasing

disparities between the haves and the have-nots have

reached alarming proportions. The cold war and East-

West division have been superseded by a post-cold-war

North-South divide. Though many had predicted this

development and called for a concerted effort to deal with

the issue, little has been done to try to reverse this trend.

Poverty still reigns supreme. Aggravated poverty, hunger

and malnutrition are a paradox of our times. A fifth of the

world's population, or 1.3 billion human beings, live on

incomes of below a dollar a day, and over 50 per cent of

the world's population have less than 5 per cent of total

global income.

8

The United Nations system is uniquely placed to deal

with such intolerable and acute problems. This Organization

must dedicate more attention and more time to coordinating

effective action to alleviate the suffering and the degrading

environment in which billions of citizens still live. It is time

to act firmly and unequivocally to halt the aggravation of

this situation, which is fast becoming a latent source of

political instability in the world.

Malta believes that as we enter the new millennium

our Organization must become more relevant; it must

become more democratic. Today's setup reflects the past. In

a world where everyone is speaking about democracy, the

right and the use of the veto become anachronistic. Malta

is of the view that the use of the veto should be curtailed

with a view to its eventual elimination. Malta is not in

favour of extending the right of veto.

On the issue of the expansion of the Security Council,

Malta believes that the Charter of the United Nations

considers all States to be equal, and therefore it follows that

though we should have a more representative Security

Council that reflects today's membership of the United

Nations, this can easily be achieved by increasing the

number of non-permanent seats to the Council.

My Government has carefully examined the Secretary-

General's report on renewing the United Nations, document

A/51/950. We agree on the need for more efficiency and

greater cost-effectiveness. At the same time, we feel that,

as the Organization is a unique body, its tasks and

successes cannot be measured solely in monetary terms.

Here, I would like to highlight two important areas of

the Secretary-General's report. In paragraph 108 it is stated

that when imposing sanctions the Security Council should

give more consideration

“to making these sanctions more effective in achieving

the goal of modifying the behaviour of those targeted,

while limiting the collateral damages. There is also a

need to address the broader humanitarian and

economic effects of sanctions, as well as objective

criteria in their application and for their termination”.

[A/51/950]

Malta finds itself in total agreement with this

statement. While supporting the use of fair sanctions,

imposed appropriately and for the minimum period of time

possible by the United Nations in its task of guaranteeing

international peace, we feel that the decision to impose

sanctions, especially those which will ultimately affect the

whole population of a given country, must be justified

and that they should be imposed only as a last resort.

In another area referred to by the Secretary-General

in his report, Malta would like to see the Secretariat's

Department of Political Affairs dedicate more time and

attention to the situation in the Mediterranean region. In

this context, consideration should be given to the

establishment of a Mediterranean desk within that

Department. The creation of such a desk would facilitate

contacts and the Department would thus assume a more

direct role in the implementation of the relevant

provisions of resolutions adopted by the General

Assembly on the strengthening of security and

cooperation in the Mediterranean.

Malta's contributions in the search for peace, security

and cooperation for the benefit of mankind are well

recorded in the annals of the history of this Organization.

Malta's initiatives on the law of the sea and climate

change and the recent initiative on the new role to be

given to the Trusteeship Council are witness to the esteem

and dedication which Malta attaches to its role in this

Organization.

Malta is a small island State. Notwithstanding this,

we look upon the United Nations as the forum where

countries such as ours can express their views and where

the principle of the equality of States is enshrined and

protected. For us, this Organization has much significance

and for this reason Malta intends to support the Secretary-

General in his quest for urgent reform.

The more efficient and relevant the United Nations

becomes, the better our interests are served. My

Government will continue to give its wholehearted

support to the United Nations, its agencies and its

programmes. Many of the problems and challenges which

will face us in the third millennium can be overcome only

through the concerted efforts of all Member States and

through a better, more efficient and more effective United

Nations.