Foreign conflicts took centre stage in President George Vella’s address to foreign diplomats on Monday during an exchange of New Year‘s greetings at the Presidential Palace. 

The president focused strongly on the conflict in Gaza, telling the foreign dignitaries, “There is a limit to everything. Enough is enough.”

While condemning the Hamas attacks of October 7, Vella said he equally condemned Israel’s response, which he described as being conducted “without any sense of proportion.”

“I ask myself what more are we to witness, when we have already seen hospitals and churches being bombed while people sought shelter inside; thousands of babies and children shell-shocked or being buried,” he said. 

“Children are becoming orphaned; and we are seeing desperate parents begging for scraps of food or some water for their children not to starve to death. There is a limit to everything. Enough is enough.”

Vella expressed his “unqualified condemnation of the killing of innocent people, while also making a “sincere plea… to stop the ongoing massacre of innocent people, particularly of children.”

The occasion marked Vella’s last New Year speech to diplomats, ahead of the end of his term as President on April 1.

The former foreign minister also spoke about the wars in Sudan and Ukraine, the latter of which he said went against “all the cardinal principles of international norms.”

“There should be no space at all in our thinking for the notion that ‘might is right’,” he said. 

Vella also took the opportunity to praise Malta’s diplomatic efforts, commending the Foreign Ministry’s officials and diplomats for “leaving an indelible mark on the global scene.”

Highlighting Malta’s work securing a UN Security Council resolution which led to a temporary pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas, Vella said Malta had not sat on the fence during the conflict, stressing that neutrality did not mean inaction.

EU expansion, climate change and migration

Describing Europe's values as under threat, Vella said that enlargement was the EU's "most powerful foreign policy tool."

Calling recent work to enlarge the bloc "promising", Vella said he hoped this would continue. 

In December, EU leaders agreed to open accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova and granted formal candidate status to Georgia.

The president also highlighted the challenges of climate change, telling diplomats "our climate is falling apart."

Drawing attention to the plight of small island states, which are widely regarded as being especially susceptible to the impacts of climate change, he urged for "immediate and effective action."

Highlighting the importance of the Mediterranean in global affairs, Vella said, however, that the international community had consistently "failed to recognise the urgency of tensions" in the region.

Action had only been taken "too little, and too late," he said. 

Migration flows are 'unsustainable'

Calling the flow of migration through the Mediterranean "unsustainable", Vella said there had been a lack of solidarity on the issue at an EU level.

Vella closed by saying it had been an honour to serve the country and thanked foreign officials for their support of the Malta Community Chest Fund.

Abela also underlines need for peace

In a separate ceremony shortly after at the Auberge de Castille, Prime Minister Robert Abela also highlighted the war in Gaza but stopped short of condemning Israel directly, instead saying Malta supported the country’s right to defend itself “within international law”.

Abela has been less circumspect in the past, in November telling Labour supporters that no terrorist attack justified the “butchering and massacring of innocent children, parents and civilians and the loss of so many innocent lives.”

Abela reiterated Malta’s call for a “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza and a political direction that supports a two-state solution. 

The prime minister addressing diplomats at the Auberge de Castille.

The prime minister also spoke about Ukraine, calling Russia’s invasion “illegal, unjustified and unprovoked,” and highlighted Malta’s efforts to host a peace meeting on the issue. 

Discussing a number of global regions, Abela said Malta was an “attractive and reliable” partner and that it supported the inclusion of the African Union in the G20 — a group of the world’s 20 largest economies that meet regularly to discuss a range of issues. 

He said the UK remained an “important partner” for Malta, highlighting the signing of the two countries’ bilateral cooperation framework last year. 

Like Vella, the Prime Minister too emphasised Malta’s successes at the United Nations. “As an elected member on the UN Security Council, Malta has not been content to just being around the table”, he said. 

Abela also stressed the need to achieve “safe, orderly and regular migration” and address climate change and supply-chain issues.