De Marco discusses EU in Hungary

"No political party can ignore what the people in their sovereignty have decided," President Guido de Marco said yesterday.

Addressing a news conference following a meeting with Hungarian President Ferenc Mádl during which he invited the Hungarian president to visit Malta, President de Marco said that political parties got their legitimacy from the people so they could not ignore people`s decisions.

He was replying to a question about the controversy in Malta relating to EU membership.

President de Marco said:

"We in Malta have a habit of having different opinions until we reach a conclusion. The tradition in Malta is that once a decision is reached all political parties act in terms of what the people have decided."

He said the present government was seeking membership of the EU according to its electoral mandate but after concluding negotiations it would again be seeking the people`s opinion in a referendum.

Asked if his statement that no political party could ignore what the people decided was related to the planned holding of a referendum in Malta, President de Marco said it could be about anything - a referendum, a general election or any other circumstance.

No political party could ignore a people`s decision as the parties obtained their legitimacy from the people`s support, he said.

The EU was the focus of the President`s talks in Budapest as both Malta and Hungary are seeking membership and aim to conclude negotiations by the end of this year.

Hungary`s new government, which will take power within two months, will still seek membership but wants to renegotiate some chapters.

Hungary`s second round of parliamentary elections last Sunday gave a majority to the Socialist opposition, who will be forming a coalition with the free democrats to form a new government.

Prof. de Marco stressed the important role Malta could play in Mediterranean issues, such as the prevailing crisis in the Middle East.

He also referred to this when giving a lecture at Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest in the afternoon and during a state dinner in the evening.

At the state dinner he said:

"In my government`s view, Malta in the EU would provide added awareness of the complexities and contradictions of this region, and it will be a voice that bridges perceptions and misperceptions, real and apparent divides..."

Prof. de Marco said the Mediterranean was where the international community needed to focus its efforts to defuse actual and potential explosive situations.

"The crisis in the Middle East is a case in point. An area where passions run high, the Holy Land today is ravaged by the rumble of war, by death and terror, by recrimination and deep-seated hatred.

"Three decades and more have passed and United Nations Security Council Resolutions have not been implemented, even less observed.

"The conflict between the state of Israel and the Palestinian people risks precipitating the whole Mediterranean region into a vortex of grave instability."

Malta, Prof. de Marco said, supported efforts for peace because it valued the benefits of peace and stability as essential factors that contributed to the fulfilment of the legitimate aspirations of peoples.

"We have unequivocally condemned all forms of terrorism and voiced our support for a just peace, for safe and secure borders for Israel, for the respect of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.

"We firmly believe that the latest acts of war are counter-productive to the prospects of much needed long-term stability.

"It is such situations that require the balanced and increasingly relevant voice of Europe. I believe that Malta and Hungary can definitely add to the balance and relevance of Europe in international affairs," he said.

During the lecture, Prof. de Marco said:

"The Maltese government believes that Malta in Europe will give the added attention and focus to Mediterranean issues on which so much of our future in peace and stability depend."

He said that in Helsinki, Malta launched a theorem that there could be no security in Europe unless there was security in the Mediterranean, and there could be no security in the Mediterranean unless there was security in Europe.

Malta, he said, looks at events in the Middle East with great concern.

"The tragedy between Israel and the Palestinian people is rendered more poignant in the awareness that history and geography have condemned them to live side by side.

"But this tragedy can have outreaching effects, creating serious distrust and lingering disappointment at the so-called Western world and at international institutions which they will consider to have failed an Arab people at the moment of its greatest need.

"The social, economic and political effects of such a situation can create areas of instability extending themselves from the Arab peninsula to the Atlantic.

"It is also in this context that the EU can be an important partner for dialogue and stability, and through a relevant United Nations bring about a greater awareness of the issues involved, and an effective implementation of its resolutions," he said.

Prof. de Marco said the European continent was developing with two lungs, on the one part through an EU which already had 15 members but soon enlarging into 25 or more member states.

On the other part, there was a greater Europe which comprised 44 states, having in its fold Russia, Ukraine and the Caucasian republics, giving the Council of Europe a European sense of belonging, making of it a maison commune of human rights, cultural values and social commitment.

The relevance of Europe, Prof. de Marco said, depended both on the extent of its economic integration as well from the development of a common foreign and security policy.

"I come from a country, European in culture and sense of belonging, which at the centre of the Mediterranean, has learned how to live at the crossroad of civilisations.

"I am speaking in Hungary which has also been at the crossroad of civilisations, suffered the clash of ideologies, built its freedom through the sacrifices of its citizens. We share historical experiences."

During the state dinner he referred to the situation in Malta and said there was an ongoing lively debate and differing views on EU membership.

"This is but another sign of the vibrancy of our democracy," President de Marco said.

For the Maltese government, he said, EU membership represented the natural fulfilment of the country`s European identity and a further guarantee of security within the context of European stability.

The President`s state visit started with a welcoming ceremony at Kossuth Lajos Square where Prof. de Marco inspected a guard of honour.

This was followed by his meeting with President Mádl at the Nándorfehérvári Hall of the majestic parliamentary building, situated on a sweeping bend of the River Danube, followed by a plenary session at the Munkacsy Hall.

After a tour of the parliament building, the President left for the International Trade Development of Hungary building to address a business forum, which was attended by the Maltese businessmen accompanying him.

President de Marco also met the mayor of Budapest, Gábor Demszky. In his meetings, President de Marco was accompanied by Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg.

Mrs Violet de Marco followed a separate programme with Mrs Dalma Mádl.