The international community must be bold and stand ready to show its concern when international peace is threatened, the prime minister told the members of the Diplomatic Corps on Thursday.

“It is this spirit that we take with us as we start our term as an elected member of the United Nations Security Council”, Robert Abela said in an address to ambassadors accredited to Malta during an exchange of New Year greetings at the Auberge de Castille.

This, he said, was Malta’s opportunity to contribute to the safeguarding of the UN Charter, built particularly on the principles and values of peace.

In the context of the war in Ukraine, Abela remarked that as a neutral country, Malta’s aim is to work towards peace.

The prime minister addressing ambassadors.

But he also highlighted the European Union’s unity in solidarity with the people of Ukraine, together with the unwavering support for Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

The prime minister said climate change will be a key priority for Malta during its tenure on the United Nations Security Council, and it will promote the  Islands for Islands initiative, launched at COP26 in Glasgow, for small island economies to share their realities and best practice in terms of sustainable development.

The prime minister observed that Malta has one of the most vibrant economies in the European Union with economic growth being among the strongest and unemployment and inflation being among the lowest.  This, he said, was a result of government policies aimed at investing in the people, including the government’s decision to shoulder energy price hikes.

The prime minister also spoke on Malta's efforts to force improved relations in different parts of the work. A trade delegation will head for Ghana next week, and Malta recently opened an embassy in Brazil’s capital, Brasilia. Consulates will be set up in Casablanca, Accra and Doha.

The prime minister said he looks forward to further collaboration and reiterated that Malta will remain an honest and reliable partner in seeking peace, security and prosperity.

Read the address in full by clicking the pdf link below. 

The members of the Diplomatic Corps also called on President George Vella at the Palace in Valletta.

In his address Vella, a former foreign minister referred to the war in Ukraine and praised the Ukrainian people for their courage.

This, he said, was an unjustified, irrational and inexcusable invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

President George Vella speaking on Thursday.

"These are scenes that make us – the international community – cringe in shame and reflect on human frailty. For how can we accept, at this day and age, that the cardinal principles of respect for sovereignty and self determination are swept aside by aggression and military might?

"Have we learned nothing from a World War that devastated our continent over eighty years ago? Have the annual remembrance days not taught us anything?" the president asked.  

He said it was disappointing to note that there remain very divergent views between on the causes, and the consequences, of this war.

"To my mind, our message needs to be a clear, unanimous and resounding one.

"The fundamental principles which lie at the heart of a civilised international order are there to be respected by all.  We should not leave any room or pretext for the capricious and convenient dilution of the norms and standards that have clearly guided the international community for decades."

When he spoke on the Mediterranean, the president said it was important that the region was not relegated to some secondary tier of relevance and focus  on the international agenda. 

"We have always been adamant that the EU has a very strong role to play in the Mediterranean. Apart from the evident proximity and the inevitable effects that developments could have on the EU’s own stability and security, I wish to see the EU take a more prominent and visible role that is commensurate with, and lives up to, its profile as a major donor of development assistance," he said. 

"I strongly believe that the EU, as a formidable group of like-minded nations - despite its internal divergences - has the potential to set both the tone and substance on challenges in our region, thereby giving direction and influencing outcomes."

Read the President's wide-ranging address on the pdf link below.