Borg critical of Muscat's comments on Tunisia, Egypt

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said today that calls by Opposition leader Joseph Muscat for Malta to unleash a tourism publicity campaign in view of the unrest in Tunisia and Egypt were ‘insensitive and immature’.

He said that such comments also reflected inexperience.

In a statement, Dr Borg said instability in the region could have a negative impact on Malta.

However, should the current developments lead to changes that respectived the rules of democracy, such as freedom and tolerence, then they would be seen as positive and historic.

Malta should not be looking at profiting from the current situiation but helping those peoples, without being paternalistic.

Malta was historically a friend of Tunisia and Egypt and respected the decisions taken freely by their peoples, Dr Borg said. He hoped such good relations could be maintained.