Malta, 2010

Mr. President, I would like to

join other delegations that have preceded me in

offering my congratulations and those of my delegation

on your election as President of the General Assembly

at its sixty-fifth session. I am convinced that your

political experience and diplomatic skill will assist and

guide this Assembly in its deliberations, especially in

addressing important and critical issues on the

international agenda.

I also congratulate your predecessor, Mr. Ali

Abdussalam Treki, for the excellent manner in which

he presided over the sixty-fourth session of the

Assembly. Through his commitment and leadership

role, Mr. Treki successfully guided the Assembly in

dealing effectively with a number of priority issues

facing our Organization.

I also take this opportunity to express our sincere

appreciation to Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon for his

dedication and untiring efforts to ensure that our

Organization lives up to the purposes and principles of

the Charter of the United Nations. His comprehensive

report on the work of the Organization (A/65/1)

indicates in no uncertain terms the progress the United

Nations has made under his leadership and guidance,

for which Malta is extremely grateful.

During the past 12 months, the international

community has been overwhelmed by the global and

financial crises. The crises have been exacerbated by

many humanitarian tragedies around the world. Natural

disasters, terrorist attacks, armed violence and internal

conflicts have continued to produce havoc, destruction,

loss of life and the increased forced displacement of

people worldwide. In the face of these negative

realities, our Organization has continued to be the

refuge of the most vulnerable and deprived of our

societies, to address increasing inequalities, to respond

cohesively and rapidly to disasters and calamities, and

to seek to improve the very nature of the existence and

survival of humankind. It is an accepted norm that

there is no development without security, no security

without development, and neither without respect for

human rights.

Important achievements have been registered in

recent months in the area of disarmament and

non-proliferation. The new Treaty on Measures for the

Further Reduction and Limitation of Strategic

Offensive Arms, designed to replace the 1991 START I

agreement and signed in Prague in April by the

Presidents of the United States and the Russian

Federation, created the appropriate political momentum

for preparing the way for a successful outcome to the

2010 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on

the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

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Malta is particularly pleased that among the

agreed actions taken by the Conference was the

endorsement by the NPT States parties of the

convening by the Secretary-General, the Russian

Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States,

in consultation with the countries of the region, of a

conference in 2012 to address the establishment in the

Middle East of a zone free of nuclear and all other

weapons of mass destruction.

The General Assembly’s resolutions recognize

that positive developments worldwide, but particularly

in Europe, the Maghreb and the Middle East, can be

enhanced by closer Euro-Mediterranean cooperation in

all spheres. Thirty-five years ago, on 1 August 1975,

the Conference on Security and Cooperation in

Europe — now the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) — meeting in Helsinki,

Finland, adopted the Final Act, incorporating an

important chapter dedicated exclusively to the

Mediterranean that affirmed, among other things, that

security in the Mediterranean is closely linked to

European security, as well as to international peace and

security.

Malta, a European country but nonetheless

Mediterranean, has worked for many years, and even

since becoming a Member of this Organization,

towards a Euro Mediterranean foreign policy that

embraces confidence- and security-building initiatives

that further enhance dialogue and understanding in our

region. Indeed, my country has been present at the

creation of all the Mediterranean forums in existence

today. Through its membership of the European Union,

Malta has solidified these efforts in a manner that

promotes the ever-increasing connectedness of the

European-Mediterranean partnership.

Today, Malta is the host of the European

Commission-League of Arab States Liaison Office,

which has formalized relations between the European

Commission and the Arab world in a way that has

never been done before. Indeed, Malta has translated

its character as an interlocutor with a European identity

and Mediterranean characteristics into the role of a

political and cultural bridge to our neighbours to the

North and South, and even beyond.

But our commitment to the Mediterranean

dimension does not stop there. Malta continues to seize

every opportunity to contribute further to this dialogue

of partners. This has certainly been the case within the

Union for the Mediterranean, where Malta has played

an active part in ensuring that the requisite momentum

is maintained despite occasional political hurdles. In

the institutional domain, Malta has nominated a Deputy

Secretary-General, an honour accorded to six Union

members. The Maltese Deputy Secretary-General has

been entrusted with the portfolio covering social and

civil affairs, an area undoubtedly of vital interest to all

Union partners.

Next month, Malta will host the Mediterranean

Conference of the Organization for Security and

Cooperation in Europe, which will address, from a

Mediterranean perspective, issues currently being

debated within the OSCE in the dialogue on the future

of European security. On 8 and 9 November, Malta will

be the venue for the first regional conference for the

Mediterranean of the United Nations Alliance of

Civilizations. The regional conference is expected to

adopt a strategy document and an action plan

expressing the commitment of the Group of Friends of

the Alliance to advancing goals in concrete terms in a

region where intercultural dialogue and cooperation

have great potential for success in overcoming the big

challenges the region faces.

In the first half of 2011 Malta, a member of the

Western Mediterranean Forum since 1991, intends to

host the second Summit of Heads of State and

Government of the Forum, known as the 5+5. The

convening of the Summit, the second of its kind in

seven years, should, among other purposes, serve to

reaffirm the relevance of the 5+5 dialogue in the

current context. Malta continues to attach great value

to this informal mechanism as a platform for open and

frank discussion between North and South.

It is also of satisfaction to record the successful

first joint International Meeting in Support of Israeli-

Palestinian Peace, held in Malta last February, and

organized by the United Nations Committee on the

Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian

People and the Parliamentary Assembly of the

Mediterranean. In this context I would like to

recognize the importance of resolution 64/124, adopted

by the General Assembly in December 2009, whereby

the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean,

whose seat is in Malta, was granted observer status and

invited to participate in the sessions and work of the

General Assembly.

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That brings me to an issue that closely involves

the Mediterranean region. I am referring to the

situation in the Middle East, with the Palestinian

question at its core. Malta joins other Member States in

welcoming the decision reached last month between

the Israelis and the Palestinians to resume direct

negotiations to resolve all permanent status issues. The

launching of direct negotiations on 2 September in

Washington, D.C., followed by the Sharm el-Sheikh

and Jerusalem meetings, has renewed the sense of

urgency and expectation for the resolution of an issue

that has been on the international agenda for these last

62 years. The intense and unstinting efforts made

during these past few months by the Quartet, the

Secretary-General and the Arab League, as well as the

Israelis and Palestinians themselves, in addition to the

valuable contribution of the United States

Administration, have opened new possibilities for the

emergence of an independent, democratic and viable

Palestinian State living side by side in peace and

security with Israel. As a member of the international

community, Malta will continue to play its part within

the United Nations, the European Union and other

international, regional and subregional forums to

support the creation of the right conditions for all

peoples of the Mediterranean and the Middle East to

live in peace and prosperity.

This year has brought us stark reminders of the

devastation and loss of life that we can expect from

climate change if it continues unabated. Yet, despite

such warnings, the international community has yet to

adopt a sufficiently ambitious response strategy that

would bind us all to contributing fairly to mitigating

climate change, keeping it within manageable limits.

Important steps have indeed been taken over the past

two decades, but the great expectations of a decisive

push forward in Copenhagen last year were not

realized. Nevertheless, we must persevere on the road

ahead — perhaps more pragmatically than

dramatically. Copenhagen did produce several seeds of

agreement that can be harvested in Cancún in

December, where operational decisions could advance

action on several fronts of broad interest to Member

States.

Integrating the expected climatic impacts into our

vision of the future is in fact a requirement for all of

us, large and small. Yet the topic often lingers on the

sidelines of policymaking. We must give adaptation the

political and economic attention it deserves and ensure

well-targeted financial support to vulnerable countries

or communities most in need of it. I would also like to

underline the potential of cooperative action on

adaptation at regional levels, and it is in this context

that Malta is supporting the Mediterranean Climate

Change Initiative announced by the Prime Minister of

Greece.

The protection of the human being continues to

constitute a top priority for my country. In this regard,

we have witnessed during the past year important

developments within the United Nations that will

significantly contribute to delivering results for a more

just world and to putting system-wide coherence into

practice. We note the progress, small but most

welcome, on the discussion on the responsibility to

protect. It will be recalled that five years ago, the 2005

World Summit Outcome (resolution 60/1) called for an

expansion of the United Nations capabilities for early

warning and assessment of possible genocide, war

crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity,

in addition to supporting the establishment of an early

warning capability. Malta therefore highly commends

the interactive dialogue that took place in July and

commends the initiative of the Secretary-General to set

up a United Nations joint office to deal with the

prevention of genocide and the wider range of crimes

and violations covered by the responsibility to protect.

Another important development has been the

United Nations Global Plan of Action against

Trafficking in Persons (see resolution 64/293, annex).

Still another aspect of human trafficking is the

smuggling of human beings. The phenomenon of

illegal immigration, stoked by the greed and callous

operations of organized criminal groups in the

Mediterranean, is putting at risk the lives of hundreds

of immigrants on the threshold of Europe. Malta has

for some years now been a country of destination,

attracting a disproportionate influx of illegal

immigrants and asylum-seekers. Malta’s need for

assistance in providing beneficiaries of international

protection with a durable solution has been recognized

by many. While Malta affirms its commitment to

abiding by its international obligations, at the same

time we reiterate our calls on the international

community to continue to assist us in the process of

resettling these unfortunate people.

While not new phenomena, piracy and armed

robbery at sea against vessels continue to be an issue of

grave concern for international navigation and the

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safety of commercial maritime routes. Malta, as one of

the leading flag States in the world, is very much

concerned about the increase in the frequency and

ferocity of pirate attacks on merchant ships off the

coast of Somalia. It is to address that concern that we

intend to promote a debate within the international

community on new issues, such as piracy, in the sphere

of the law of the sea which have cropped up since the

adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Law

of the Sea in 1982.

We intend to launch a fresh and constructive

debate among like-minded States on the question of

human responsibilities. Even though we are here

treading on ground that may prove to be difficult, we

believe that while the fundamental rights and freedoms

of the individual form the cornerstone of a free and

democratic society, so do human responsibilities.

Rights and duties are two sides of the same coin. Our

commitment to duties should be as firm as that to

rights. Stressing the rights of society and our duties

towards others — which in no case should overshadow

our attention to the rights of the individual — puts

emphasis on that which keeps society together. Malta

shall take up this matter to achieve a measure of

progress in this field in the international community.

Before concluding, allow me to pay a tribute in

memory to President Guido de Marco, one of my

predecessors, who as Deputy Prime Minister and

Minister for Foreign Affairs, and as President of Malta,

bestowed honour on his country and the people of

Malta, which he loved dearly. His passing away last

month left a great void not only among the Maltese

population, but also for the many who worked with

him for the betterment of those in the international

community who are oppressed, weak and vulnerable.

Twenty years ago, this Assembly elected him to

serve as President at the forty-fifth session. His strong

belief in and steadfast support of the United Nations

can be encapsulated in his own words at the opening

plenary of the session on 18 September 1990 when, in

referring to the enormous challenges that lay ahead, he

stated that

“equally enormous is the political will to

guarantee that mankind’s destiny is safeguarded

not only by individual countries, but by a strong

United Nations” (A/45/PV.1, p. 22).

His election as President ushered in, among other

things, new initiatives for the revitalization of our

General Assembly — a legacy that has continued and

continues today. By following Guido de Marco’s vision

for and love of the United Nations, my country shall

continue supporting this Organization and its

Secretary-General to make our world a better place for

present and future generations.