THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADDRESSES THE MEDITERRANEAN FORUM MEETING OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS ADDRESSES THE MEDITERRANEAN FORUM MEETING OF MINISTERS OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND THE INTER-PARLIAMENTARY CONFERENCE ON SECURITY AND CO-OPERATION IN THE MEDITERRANEAN

The Hon. Joe Borg, Minister of Foreign Affairs, yesterday returned to Malta after participating, in the VII Mediterranean Forum Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Funchal, Madeira between 30-31 March, and in the III Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean held in Marseilles.

In Funchal, the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the 11 countries making up the Forum (Algeria, Egypt, France, Greece, Italy, Malta, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, Tunisia and Turkey) had an extensive exchange of views on matters relating to the Mediterranean in general and the Forum in particular.

In his address , Minister Borg reviewed the achievements of the Mediterranean Forum following the VI Ministerial Meeting held in Malta last year and the III Euro-Mediterranean Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, (Stuttgart, March 1999). He referred to the on-going discussions on the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Peace and Stability, in which Malta has traditionally played a very active part, and augured that Senior Officials would be in a position to present Ministers with a substantial progress report during the forthcoming 'think-tank' Meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs that will be held in Lisbon at the end of May.

He emphasised the success of the Forum in tackling specific themes such as Terrorism and Co-operation in combating organised crime, illegal trafficking of drugs and arms and money-laundering. Regarding the latter, a meeting at expert level was held in Malta in 1999 and Minister Borg offered to host a follow-up meeting later on in the year.

During the same meeting Ministers approved three initiatives aimed at giving more visibility to the Mediterranean. One of the said proposals, proposed by Malta, is the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Award that would be bestowed on personalities considered to have made outstanding contributions towards the fulfilment of the objectives of the Barcelona declaration.

Dr. Borg also had a bilateral meeting with Jaime Gama – Minister of State and Foreign Affairs of Portugal.

In his statement at the Third Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean, the Hon. Joe Borg referred to the current situation in the region and traced the recent history of the Mediterranean on the international agenda. He also outlined the continuously evolving discussion of a Conference on Security and Co-operation in the Mediterranean as set out in the previous two Inter-Parliamentary conferences held in Malaga in 1992 and Valletta in 1995.

In this regard Minister Borg recalled Malta's proposal for the setting up of an Association of Mediterranean States and noted with pleasure that the proposal for an 'inter-parliamentary co-operation structure' as contained in the draft concluding document was in line with Malta's initiative submitted to the second CSCM that was held in Valletta in 1995.

03.04.2000

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Mr. Chairman,

It has become a tradition for Ministers of the Forum to meet before Ministerial Meetings of the Euro-Mediterranean Process. This provides us with an opportunity to discuss, in an informal and frank manner so characteristic of this Forum, all the issues on our agenda. In this way we have made a significant contribution to the Barcelona Process. Our deliberations in Malta last year, on the III Euro-Mediterranean Conference in general and on the Charter in particular, provided the Process with a momentum that carried us through Stuttgart and beyond. I believe we should nurture this in view of the intensive agenda we are facing this year. In a few weeks time we will be meeting again in Lisbon, whilst later on this year we have Barcelona IV. In both cases the Euro-Mediterranean Charter for Peace and Stability will be a central item of our debate.

We see the Charter as a functional instrument aimed at carrying forward the several objectives of the Barcelona Declaration through practical measures. We believe it should also contain the right mechanism to reflect the joint responsibility of partners in decision-making. My delegation has actively participated in the deliberations on the conceptual work carried out so far and I am confident that a substantial progress report will be submitted to us during the ‘think-tank' Ministerial meeting in Lisbon in May. I believe however that thereafter the time will be ripe for Senior Officials to engage in the drafting of the Charter so as to enable us to adopt the text in the course of the IV Euro-Mediterranean Meeting of Ministers.

The meeting in Lisbon should also give us the opportunity to review our achievements within the Process. Besides the political issues we should concern ourselves with the advancement of the economic and social chapters. In Palermo we described the economic volet as the ‘motor of the process'. After five years we should take stock of what has been achieved and discuss the manner in which we can improve the realisation of the objectives set out in the Declaration.

Within the Forum we have, in the last five years, managed to develop amongst ourselves a unique dialogue. This is particularly evident in the political themes that we have elaborated, as demonstrated by the three consecutive meetings on Terrorism chaired by Spain and the Malta meeting last year, in the course of which we managed to draw up guidelines on co-operation in combating organised crime, illegal trafficking of drugs and arms and money laundering. In view of the importance we attach to this particular item we would be prepared to host a follow-up meeting later on in the year.

The success achieved in dealing with such complex issues demonstrates the effectiveness of the Forum in handling specific themes. We should enhance this capability by re-examining the structures and working methods of the Forum and adopt this system in our endeavours to promote economic and socio-cultural co-operation.

We should also enhance the image we are trying to give to Euro-Mediterranean co-operation. I am satisfied that the initiatives we adopted in Malta are being pursued. In collaboration with our partners in this Forum we look forward to advancing the several proposals under discussion namely, the Year for the Mediterranean proposed by Tunisia, the Euro-Mediterranean Global Forum suggested by the Presidency and the establishment of a Euro-Mediterranean Award as proposed by my delegation.

I continue to believe that parliamentarians have an important role to play in advancing the visibility of the Process. Likewise I believe that the involvement of youth and the promotion of dialogue among the major religious denominations of the region would also contribute towards confidence building in the region.

In conclusion I share with my colleagues the need to take advantage of the positively evolving situation in the region in order to further peace, stability and co-operation in the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

DOI  04.04.2000

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Statement delivered by the Hon. Dr Joe Borg, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Malta

Madam President, Mr Secretary General

Dear Colleagues,

I would, first of all, like to thank the Inter-Parliamentary Union for convening this Conference and the French Parliamentary Delegation for hosting it in this Mediterrenean City of Marseilles.

It is indeed a pleasure for me to be in Marseilles for this Conference, which is of particular interest to us. We are meeting in the course of a very promising year for the Mediterranean. We feel that the year 2000 is a year marked by several positive developments that bear upon the future of the region. Signs of conciliation and a sustained dialogue to solve long-term disputes are evident. Of particular significance are the developments taking place in all tracks of the Middle East Peace Process. Of course the occasional hiccup interrups progress but this is in the nature of things and we should not be deterred.

Through the dialogue we hold with the parties engaged in regional differences that sit with us in this forum, we have contributed to peace and stability in the region. This should encourage us in our quest for the realisation of a culture of peace based on stability for the region in which we live.

Dear colleagues,

The inclusion of the Mediterranean as a region in the international agenda is fairly recent. The first effort that served to highlight the interests of the Mediterranean is to be found in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. We worked very hard to bring to the attention of the participating states the concept that there could be no security in Europe without security in the Mediterranean. It meant that peace in Europe would be safeguarded through the transfer of military installations and capabilities to the Mediterranean. Peace and stability for Europe could be ascertained through the sharing with the Mediterranean of those principles that lead to confidence building and the mutual development of Economic interests. It is in the recognition of mutual respect and understanding that Europe and the Mediterranean could survive the challenges of change that followed the end of the cold war. 

In the latter half of the eighties we have witnessed the introduction of several Mediterranean initiatives. The last decade has given birth to the Western Mediterranean Forum (the 5 + 5), the Mediterranean forum and the Euro-Mediterranean Conference of 1995 – commonly referred to as the Barcelona process. The Mediterranean forum and the Barcellona Process are two institutions that have come to the fore after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

I have come to Marseilles from Madeira where I attended the Seventh meeting of Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the Mediterranean Forum. The Mediterranean forum was set up in 1994 and has since become an informal setting of what can be loosely termed as a gathering of like-minded Mediterranean states. It is a laboratory of ideas and its effectiveness can be found in trying to address regional issues and proposals that the Forum shares with the larger regional bodies.

The Barcelona Declaration brought to the region a new dimension. It brings about a partnership among the 15 member states of the European Union and 12 Mediterranean states through the equation of principles leading to an enhanced political dialogue covering the political, economic and social specificities of the countries that make up the two adjacent regions.

I am satisfied that notwithstanding the difficult phases the region has experienced in the last five years, the dialogue and hence the partnership building, are still progressing. That in itself is an important step towards better understanding and therefore augurs well for present and future cooperation in the region.

In recognising the importance and the effective disposition that characterises the International Parliamentary Union, Maltese delegations regularly voiced their strong conviction in favour of specific initiative to be undertaken for the Mediterranean region within this body.

In 1990 the 83^rd IPU Conference passed a resolution entitled, "The Promotion of peace and security in the Mediterranean region in the light of developments in Europe and the new spirit prevailing internationally". The resolution recommended the convening of a Conference of Parliamentarians of all Mediterranean states. The first such conference to discuss the convening of a CSCM was held in Malaga in June 1992 and was followed up in Valletta in November 1995. We are here today in the Mediterranean city-port of Marseilles to continue our discussions on the subject.

The Inter Parliamentary Union successfully provided the first platform for an exclusively Mediterranean dialogue. In this respect it brings together the largest number of Mediterranean states in a regional setting for this highly sensitive geopolitical area.

The result of our endeavours can be seen in the extensive topics that we have been able to cover in the course of the last few years. This is our strength. We need now to move forward. We have reflected and determined those features in the political, economic and socio-cultural fields that provide for common understanding among the littoral states. This gave us a framework for the cooperation that we need to put in place. The time has now come for us to lift our endeavours to a higher level. We need to be wary of the risk of falling into the habit of meeting from time to time to carry out theoretic exercises, which although useful, would need to be matched by concrete action.

Should we not consider the aded value that an appropiate mechanism would bring to our efforts? Should we not examine the machanism and the manner that will enable us to put into force all the concepts of Mediterranean cooperation on which we have a common agreement?

I would like to recall that in Malaga we underlined the resolve of our representatives to work for the setting up of a continuous process designed to lay firm foundations for solidarity in the Mediterranean, to strengthen dialogue, promote agreement and maintain the momentum of consultation in the Mediterranean and finally to lead to the establishment, at the intergovernmental level, of an effective and permanent mechanism for security and cooperation in the region.

In the Valletta meeting of 1995, we felt that it was essential for Mediterranean partners, without exception, to become involved in the CSCM project on an equal footing, making it possible for all of us to draft a Mediterranean policy tailored to the specific characteristics and needs of the region. In that part of the conclusions dealing with the Institutionalisation of the process of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean, the Conference confirmed the urgent need to harmonise efforts in the field of security and cooperation in the Mediterranean by setting up a mechanism for cooperation. It is for this reason that my country had taken the initiative to propose the setting up of an Association of Mediterranean States.

Going through the draft final document prepared by the Secretary General for this meeting, I have come across a number of proposals that suggest some form of permanent mechanism. I am referring to the "institutionalised Mediterranean inter-parliamentary forum …… to advice governments on means of managing crises in the Mediterranean and make available its good offices to parties to crises or conflicts." This is followed by a recommendation to governments to hold "an annual meeting to assess the implementation of confidence building measures". Furthermore the document suggests the creation of a "Mediterranean Cultural Forum to coordinate activities in this field…"

That these initiatives come from within the IPU makes a lot of political sense. For it is the parliamentarian – in his daily contact with the citizen and the legislative making body of the state – that can best influence the promotion of the Mediterranean ideal that we aim to establish.

The IPU is well placed to give to the Mediterranean its individual personality through the setting up of a regional parliamentary structure to bring into force the several commitments that we have endorsed. The arrangement that the Maltese delegation hopes will be proposed by this Conference will be established in respect of the sovereign rights of states to freely associate themselves to regional bodies of their choice. In this manner, it will have the advantage of reaping and, at the same time, of blending the several experiences and practices that we consider to be of benefit to the region.

In this respect, therefore, the Maltese delegation looks favourably upon the new addition to the draft final document in which it is proposed that the conference establishes an "inter-parliamentary cooperation structure". The draft text goes on to define, that in the long run, this structure should take the form of a parliamentary assembly for the Mediterranean. This proposal is in line with the Malta's initiative submitted to the second CSCM that was held in Valletta in 1995.

Finally, Madame President, we look forward to the setting up by the Council of an appropriate mechanism to draw up the modalities, to be submitted to the 104^th Conference of the Inter Parliamentary Union in Jakarta in October 2000, on the form and functions that this Parliamentary Assembly should take. This augurs well for the future of the Mediterranean region, in the light of our common objective of turning the Mediterranean into a zone of peace and common prosperity.

Thank you very much.