Malta’s overwhelming election to serve on the United Nations Security Council in 2023 and 2024 once again certifies the important role that Malta plays in contemporary international relations. Malta’s return to the UNSC after having served in 1983 and 1984 is an immense endorsement by the international community of Malta’s consistent and constructive foreign policy engagement since independence.
Having now achieved this new UNSC mandate, it is also essential to pay tribute to Malta’s diplomatic corps who relentlessly and tirelessly implement Malta’s foreign policy strategic objectives on a global basis. Credit must also be given to Malta’s dynamic foreign ministry which has always believed in Malta’s capacity to make a positive difference worldwide.
Malta has continuously been implementing a comprehensive foreign policy strategy that seeks to raise awareness and advocate action against humanitarian suffering. Malta’s UN Security Council’s three guiding principles of security, sustainability and solidarity provide a platform upon which a more concerted effort can take place to address the multitude of security challenges we are currently experiencing.
Malta’s focus on the plight of children in conflicts, the importance of empowering women in international relations and the urgent necessity to safeguard our planet including our oceans, highlights the constructive and pragmatic framework being put forward to manage contemporary challenges in a more effective manner. This historic moment will be another excellent opportunity to implement a foreign policy strategy at both a global and regional level that focuses on raising awareness of the main security risks and threats in our Mediterranean.
In fact, Malta’s participation in numerous international organisations has continued to highlight Malta’s region state credentials, namely that of an actor that consistently voices Euro-Mediterranean concerns on the international stage. Malta has systematically navigated through the turbulent post-Cold War COVID moment by adhering to the principle of solidarity so that we ensure that our Euro-Mediterranean region’s interests are safeguarded.
The forthcoming historic UN Security Council moment will provide another opportunity when Malta can advocate the urgent necessity to ensure that the role of multilateral diplomacy is strengthened in the emerging international security system. At a time of such disruption in international relations, which is resulting in a significant change in the diffusion of power throughout the international system, it is essential that multilateralism continues to be a pivotal instrument of diplomacy if the rule-based international order is to be sustained.
Everything possible must be done to avoid the emergence of a new Cold War with Russia- Stephen Calleya
There is an urgent necessity to call for a more prolific diplomacy in post-COVID times. Diplomacy is the art of the possible. Thus, everything possible must be done to avoid the emergence of a new Cold War, with Russia and perhaps China aligning against the US and Europe and other allies. UN Security Council membership will allow Malta to amplify its voice in international relations and highlight our diplomatic credentials as a beacon of stability and prosperity in the Mediterranean.
The UN Security Council mandate demonstrates the credibility of Malta’s foreign policy – a consistent and persistent team player that advocates a foreign policy of inclusion and promotes the notion of Mediterranean solidarity.
This is a historic moment for Malta to once again articulate and promote an agenda for peace and stability in the Mediterranean. This is the time to seek a more active international engagement to address the long list of security challenges, mobilise the required political will to advance conflict resolution and boost international investment to upgrade infrastructure and spur job creation. As a member of the UN, the EU and the OSCE, and through its participation in numerous other fora, Malta has regularly contributed in a positive manner to the constantly evolving international security debate.
Malta’s overwhelming election to the United Nation’s Security Council demonstrates Malta’s successful implementation of a strategic agenda that seeks to promote a more politically cooperative and economically prosperous international system of states across the Euro-Mediterranean area and beyond. This, in fact, has become the hallmark of Malta’s foreign policy in the past six decades.
This two-year prestigious term will enable Malta to highlight its foreign policy’s strategic objectives in a concerted manner and will serve as an inspiration to the younger generation who strive for a better tomorrow.
Stephen Calleya, international relations analyst, University of Malta