Malta, 2004

I would like first to

congratulate you, Mr. President, on your election to the

presidency of the General Assembly at its fifty-ninth

session. You have an important and challenging task

ahead. In executing your duties you can be assured of

my full support and that of the Maltese delegation.

I take this opportunity to express our appreciation

to the President of the General Assembly at its fifty-

eighth session, His Excellency Mr. Julian Hunte. Over

the last twelve months he has successfully guided the

Assemblyís work with exemplary dedication and

initiative.

I would also like, at the outset of my intervention

this afternoon, to take the opportunity to express the

solidarity of the Maltese people with those countries

and people who have suffered loss of life and damage

to property as a result of the recent spate of hurricanes

and tropical storms, particularly the people of Haiti.

We, the Maltese people, pledge our support in this hour

of need.

It is a source of particular satisfaction for me to

address the Assembly for the first time as Prime

Minister of Malta, and also for Malta in its new role as

a member of the European Union. The President of the

Unionís Council of Ministers, the Foreign Minister of

the Netherlands, has already laid before the Assembly

the objectives and priorities of the 25 members of the

Union for the coming months.

The upholding and development of international

law and effective multilateralism are central to the

European Unionís external actions. The role of the

United Nations is vital in this regard. Malta has

consistently supported the view that the international

community needs this universal forum within which it

can collectively deliberate and act upon the many

problems that confront it. Our membership in the

European Union gives renewed scope and added

dimension to our commitment to the United Nations

and its role in international affairs.

Recent events have raised urgent questions about

the extent to which the United Nations is fulfilling the

role envisaged for it under the Charter. Inevitably this

leads to some serious concerns about the effectiveness

of our Organization. Nevertheless, the questions which

have been raised do not diminish the case not only for

its continued existence but also for its strengthening as

a world body. As we survey the latest developments in

crises spots around the globe, the realization intensifies

that solutions to the major problems of our age are

beyond the grasp and control of any single nation or

particular group of nations, however powerful and

determined.

The international system is itself frequently

overwhelmed by the immensity and complexity of many

of the problems it faces. The United Nations is indeed at

the forefront of action in the most critical areas -

furthering development, relieving suffering, safeguarding

human rights, combating terrorism, fighting

environmental degradation, fostering sustainability,

resolving conflicts, promoting peace and disarmament

and upholding the rule of international law.

Each year we derive a measure of comfort from

the knowledge that some progress is being recorded in

certain areas. In this yearís report the Secretary-

General mentions last Julyís Framework Agreement

that put the Doha Round of trade negotiations back on

track; he refers to the contribution that United Nations

peace missions are making towards the gradual

improvement of the situation in Liberia, Sierra Leone,

Somalia and the Central African Republic, as well as in

Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Guatemala and Haiti.

He records the launching of an important new

programme in the fight against HIV/AIDS; he notes

that for the second consecutive year the global refugee

figure has decreased by nearly 1 million, and he

believes that meeting the Millennium Development

Goals by the target date of 2015 remains achievable.

At the same time, however, the Secretary-General

highlights a bewildering array of areas on which no

visible progress can be registered, in spite of the fact

that, as the Secretary-General reminds us, there are at

present more than 56,000 uniformed personnel and

some 11,000 civilian staff from 97 countries serving in

16 United Nations missions worldwide, and in spite of

the fact that the whole United Nations system,

including the specialized agencies, is wholeheartedly

engaged in the work of promoting economic and social

progress and development.

The humanitarian crisis in Darfur, in western

Sudan, is one stark manifestation of an apparently

unbridgeable gap between intention and execution. The

daily visions on television screens throughout the

world of thousands of refugees suffering and dying

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overwhelm the impact that a steady but slow

diplomacy may be making in its own right. In Iraq, in

Palestine and in Israel, the fact that in those difficult

realities hardly a single day goes by without news of

people dying violently in armed actions is in sharp

contrast with the limited reports on continuing efforts

to find peaceful and viable solutions. Silently, across

our globe of plenty with its advanced technology, the

fact remains that in spite of our collective efforts

millions of individuals, many of them children,

continue to suffer and die in conditions of absolute

poverty, malnutrition and disease.

Over the next 12 months two events will provide

a special opportunity for the United Nations

membership to focus on the key issues that challenge

the vitality and effectiveness of our Organization. The

High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change,

appointed by the Secretary-General last year, will soon

produce its report. The Secretary-General expects that

the Panel, after examining the threats we face and

evaluating our existing policies, processes and

institutions, will make bold and practicable

recommendations. It will be up to us as Member States,

collectively and individually, to be equally bold and

practical in responding to those recommendations.

The Panelís report will be followed in 2005 by a

high-level meeting on the five-year review of the

Millennium Declaration, as well as the commemoration

of the sixtieth anniversary of the United Nations. Five

years after what was expected to be the dawn of a new

era, the time will be ripe for some dramatic results to

emerge, not least at the institutional level.

High on the agenda in this context is the reform

of the Security Council. As currently constituted, the

Council suffers from three noticeable weaknesses.

First, it has limited means of adequately addressing the

development issues involved in security matters.

Secondly, the regional distribution of authority in the

Council is severely lopsided. And, thirdly, the great

majority of Member States, especially the smaller ones,

are underrepresented in the deliberations of the

Council. Urgent remedies need to be found for all these

weaknesses for the Council to be able to continue to

play a relevant role in the twenty-first century.

In its turn, the General Assembly needs to greatly

intensify current efforts to enhance the strengths

inherent in its universality, while discarding the

debilitating and time-consuming procedures and

working methods that such universality has bred. The

major organs and specialized agencies of the United

Nations system also need to devise improved ways of

harmonizing, through the Economic and Social Council,

their many impressive, but often disparate, efforts to

foster sustainable social and economic development.

One of the underlying strengths of the United

Nations system lies in the manner in which it permits

action at the regional level to insert itself into global

efforts towards peace, security and cooperation. In recent

years, the progressive strengthening of the African Union

has added a welcome partner to the regional framework,

in what is, unfortunately, the region of greatest need.

The recently enlarged European Union has also

been progressively enhancing its cooperation with the

United Nations at both the regional and higher levels.

The Secretary-General refers in his report on the work

of the Organization (A/59/1) to the significant progress in

EU/United Nations cooperation on conflict prevention,

peace-building and post-conflict reconstruction, as well

as in crisis management activities.

One area in which the EU and the United Nations

are active and important partners concerns the question

of Palestine. As members of the Quartet, the EU and

the United Nations play a significant role by injecting a

much-needed balance and objectivity into an issue

tormented by violence and passion. Both the EU and

the United Nations are by right major stakeholders in

the issue. History and geographical proximity underpin

the special interest of all EU member States in the

prosperity and well-being of both Israelis and

Palestinians. The creation and peaceful coexistence of

two neighbouring States, Israel and Palestine, was one

of the United Nations very first, but unfortunately still

unfulfilled, recommendations.

After decades of bitterness and wrong turns, the

issue of Palestine remains jeopardized by the forces of

extremism and intransigence. But extremism and

intransigence ó as manifested by both the perpetrators

of Palestinian suicide bombings and Israeli advocates

of a continuing and forceful military occupation of

Palestinian territories - do have a counterbalance on

both sides, as manifested by the Geneva Initiative of

late last year, among many other examples. The EU

and the United Nations need to continuously exert their

influence and pressure on both sides to persuade them

to give greater heed and credibility to the voices of

reason which lie in their midst.

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The path to legality and reconciliation has been

defined in the road map, in the many resolutions of the

Security Council and the General Assembly and, most

recently, in the advisory opinion of the International

Court of Justice. Even in the face of constant setbacks

on the ground, the EU and United Nations Quartet

partners need to remain steadfast in their insistence

that the road to peace can only be set within those

parameters.

Malta looks at the problem both from its tragic

humanitarian dimension as well as from its far-

reaching implications for peace and security. One

important concern for us in that regard is the impact

that the problem has on issues of peace and security in

the Middle East in general and the Mediterranean area

in particular.

One of the primary objectives of the European

Union is to promote the development, through

partnership, of a common zone of peace, prosperity and

progress in the Mediterranean and the Middle East. In

recent months the Union has elaborated a policy

agenda for that strategic partnership linking together a

number of instruments and mechanisms that have been

put in place over the years. The Euro-Mediterranean

Partnership - the Barcelona or Euromed process - and

the European Neighbourhood Policy are the frameworks

of that policy. A key element in the EU approach is the

parallel importance assigned to the processes of

security-building and to cooperation in the social,

economic, cultural and humanitarian fields. In that way

it ensures that the evolving relationships in the Euro-

Mediterranean area are tailored to the specific concerns

and needs of the individual countries and regions.

For the Balkan region, the framework provided

by the European Neighbourhood Policy ó and the

prospect of consolidating relationships with the

European Union which it implies ó constitutes an

important contributory factor towards growth and

stability. With the exception of the situation in Kosovo,

which remains disturbing, and some other examples,

progress in the Balkan region is encouraging.

The almost decade-long EuroMed process has

gradually but steadily put into place a useful structure

for the strengthening and consolidation of relationships

among the countries of the Mediterranean. It not only

contributes to the economic and social development of

individual countries, but also provides a stable

background in which some of the wider problems may be

tackled, taking into account the strong linkage that

exists between security and cooperation in Europe and

in the Mediterranean. It needs strengthening and

broadening, and in that context, the participation of

Libya in the Barcelona Euromed process would be

particularly welcome.

One such issue concerns the question of

migration from the southern to the northern shores of

the Mediterranean. As in other parts of the world, that

issue needs to be tackled from the economic, social and

political, as well as the humanitarian, perspective.

Because of its geographical location and small size,

Malta has a special sensitivity to the many problems

and complexities of the issue. We are hopeful that the

spirit of cooperation and understanding provided by the

EuroMed process can help countries in our region to

successfully tackle the challenges involved.

Over the last few months, an important

development took place in our region in the context of

disarmament. Libyaís decision to renounce its

programme of weapons of mass destruction has been

welcomed by all. As a longstanding friend and close

neighbour of Libya, Malta has particular reasons to

welcome this development and the increased

opportunities it now creates for Libya to play a

significant role in the process of Euro-Mediterranean

security and cooperation.

It is reasonable to argue that the framework of

regional stability and cooperation provided by the

Euro-Mediterranean process was one factor that

contributed to Libyaís decision to renounce its

programme. Nevertheless, problems relating to the

development of weapons of mass destruction still exist

in other regions of the world. The role that can be

played by initiatives encouraging regional stability and

economic and social development in the resolution of

these problems should not be underestimated.

We must also look at the problems raised by the

threat of new weapons of mass destruction as part of

the wider issue of disarmament in its many aspects.

The continuing commitment to the major multilateral

treaties and increased efforts to intensify measures of

verification and compliance are of paramount importance

in this regard. Equally important is the need to bring the

Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty into force

without further delay.

The problem of the proliferation of weapons,

especially weapons of mass destruction, has in our day

17

assumed a new and frightening dimension in its

possible linkage with terrorism. In this regard, as the

Secretary-General points out, the effective

implementation of Security Council resolution 1540

(2004), adopted earlier this year, should complement

ongoing efforts to strengthen existing multilateral and

non-proliferation regimes.

The fight against terrorism involves all of us and

needs to be pursued with firmness and tenacity. At the

same time, the struggle must take place on our terms

and not those of the terrorists. As the Secretary-

General takes every opportunity to remind us, this

struggle must not take place at the expense of the

fundamental freedoms and basic dignity of individuals,

neither must we allow the legitimate concern to

eradicate terrorism in all its aspects to distract the

commitment of the global community in its endeavour

towards the economic and social development of the

less advantaged regions of the world.

In conclusion, our concerns for the safety of our

people must be counter-balanced by the assurances that

those responsible for these threats will be dealt with by

a coherent and effective system of trans-frontier justice

that reflects respect for the rule of law. The

international communityís endeavours in recent years

have found fruition in the establishment of the

International Criminal Court, a functioning institution

that increases its effectiveness the more widely all the

members of the family of nations subscribe to it.

In encouraging reflection on these topical issues,

I feel confident in the credentials offered by my

country, whose level of commitment to the United

Nations certainly makes up for any physical limitations

we may have. Malta has been instrumental in

developing the concept of common heritage, in relation

both to the high seas and to climate change, and we

have emphasized the importance of intergenerational

solidarity, as evidenced not only by our initiatives on

ageing but also as the host country for the International

Institute on Ageing.

As in previous years, the issues before of the

General Assembly are many and complex. The density

and variety of the agenda we have before us are both a

challenge and an opportunity for our Organization. I

trust that under your able guidance, Mr. President, we

will find the energy and wisdom to meet these

challenges and exploit these opportunities. Humanity is

counting on all of us.