Times have changed since the Cold War came to an end in Malta, but the world is again marked by the same threats, foreign minister Ian Borg told delegates at the opening of Malta's biggest-ever ministerial conference on Thursday.
The thud of a heavy downpour of rain interrupted the start of the 31st OSCE council meeting at Ta' Qali.
Borg was forced to pause his opening remarks as a roar echoed around the massive marquee hosting ministers and delegates representing the OSCE’s 57 member states.
“It’s just the rain,” Borg said after a few seconds with a smile. “It augurs well.”
'The situation has deteriorated': Borg on Russian escalation
Describing the meeting as “a proud milestone” in Malta’s 60-year history as an independent state, Borg opened his speech by harking back to 1989 Malta Summit between George HW Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev.
The meeting marked the end of the Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union.
“Times have changed but our relations are again defined by geo-political threats to our security,” Borg said, pointing to the escalation of Russian aggression towards Ukraine.
This was the third OSCE meeting since the war started, Borg said, but stressed little has changed.
“If anything, the situation has deteriorated. The rules that have underpinned international security for 80 years are being questioned and undermined.”
Nevertheless, Borg said, Malta remains a “staunch defender of peace and dialogue” in the face of the ever-increasing threats to international security.
Borg calls on Russia to release detainees
As Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov watched on, Borg called on Russia to withdraw from Ukraine and end its escalation, saying the OSCE must work towards “just and lasting peace”.
He also called for the release of Vadym Golda, Maxim Petrov, and Dmytro Shabanov, three OSCE officials who have been detained by the Russian Federation since April 2022.
But Borg alluded to differing opinions across the 57-member OSCE group.
“OSCE was never a homogenous group of like-minded states, he said. “But today we’re no longer talking about building bridges, we’re talking about preserving one of the few we have left.”
The international community was running out of time, Borg admitted.
“We can no longer kick the can down the road because we have run out of road,” he quipped.
Also speaking at the opening, the chair of the OSCE parliamentary assembly Pia Kauma reiterated calls for Russia to “return to honouring the international order and norms it previously adhered to”.
“Ukraine alone has the right to determine the timing and terms of peace,” she said, insisting that Ukraine must be given space to set the terms of a peace agreement.