Minister for Foreign and European Affairs and Trade, Hon. Ian Borg,
Permanent Secretary,
Dean of the Honorary Consular Corps,
Distinguished Guests,
Thank you, Professor Buhagiar, for your opening speech for today’s ceremony.
I thank you for accepting this invitation to welcome the New Year together and launch our work for the coming twelve months.
This annual appointment has always held an important place in my calendar, as through it I could meet you and hear about your achievements over the past months from yourselves, as well as about the projects you have in mind for the future.
As the Dean rightly mentioned, the current Presidency will soon end.
Naturally, as the end of any process approaches, there is time for reflection.
Therefore, today is a good occasion to look back with you at what our country, together with the international community, has experienced in the past years.
Undoubtedly, the first thing that comes to mind is the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a disaster all over the world.
Compared to other countries, we did not fare so badly.
I believe you would all agree that your work as Honorary Consuls was quite disrupted during the whole ordeal. You could not carry out your traditional functions as usual, such as promoting trade and investment, tourism, cultural exchanges, and meeting the communities of the countries that appointed you.
Much of your work had to focus on other tasks.
You were placed under pressure by the very intensive work of having been asked to assist with returning thousands of foreigners, who were in Malta for work purposes or on holiday, to their countries as soon as possible.
Your contribution in this regard was without a doubt a crucial one, as it helped thousands of persons join their families in their own countries, when there was great uncertainty about what was going to happen during the pandemic.
We learned a lot of lessons from the pandemic, one of which was surely that the tasks and role of Honorary Consul, especially in moments of such difficulty, are crucial and invaluable.
Distinguished guests,
As we look back to the past years, unfortunately, we must mention “war”, or rather “wars”.
Among others, the ones which are still troubling us the most are the Russian war in Ukraine, and the one between Israel and Hamas.
These are the ones we hear most about and the ones that affect us the most.
This does not mean that we should not also worry about other conflicts and wars, such as the one in Sudan.
In every war, the victims are the same – people like us, who have their own families, their own parents and children, and above all the dignity which every person deserves.
I truly wished that my last speech with you all would not be dominated by these ugly and heartbreaking news and events.
The Dean was right to say that our country’s neutrality was not an obstacle to assuming strong positions without hesitation.
I explained this at length during my speech on Republic Day 2023.
I must reiterate my condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which turned the clock back eighty years in Europe and took us back to the time of the Second World War.
It is with the same conviction that I condemn without reservation the 7th October attack carried out by Hamas on innocent civilians in Israel. These barbaric acts have no place in a civilised world.
At the same time and with the same force, I express my condemnation and alarm regarding the completely disproportionate retaliation by Israel on the people of Gaza.
I ask myself what else can happen, when already hospitals and churches are being destroyed by bombs while people are seeking shelter within them? Thousands of children only a few days or months old have been buried, or else are in a state of psychological shock because they have been orphaned, without understanding why? Or parents begging for scraps of food, or some water, so that their children do not starve to death right in front of their eyes?
There is a limit to everything.
Dear guests,
This is a very ugly moment for the international community.
It pains me to say that the great powers – the ones who truly have the power to end all this – are looking the other way, while continuing to provide weapons and ammunition to fighters on both sides.
This vacuum had to be filled in some way, and here we could see Malta take the initiative.
It had to be Malta to take the first step and work tirelessly for a United Nations Security Council Resolution to protect the lives of civilians, especially of children – on both sides.
It is a shame that even such a Resolution has been almost entirely ignored, even though it should be observed.
In the same manner, in the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, Malta was the unanimous choice to Chair the Permanent Council in light of the far from easy political circumstances.
This is another expression and testimony of trust in our country’s permanent position and strong vocation in favour of multilateralism.
Allow me to congratulate Minister Borg – and through him our diplomats and officials employed in our service – for the vision and determination shown by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs over the past months.
Despite the several challenges, Malta continues to promote cooperation and dialogue in the work expected from it according to our country’s Constitution – working actively in favour of peace.
In this context of international turmoil, the functions related to your role are fundamental so that our country’s potential continues to be broadcast to, and used by, the countries that appointed you.
I urge you to continue building on those initiatives in trade, investment, services in general, tourism, the teaching of English, educational exchanges, and other cultural activities.
The maritime sector, aviation, financial services, and other sectors that we are so well-known and sought for also come to mind. We have to continue to invest in innovative fields which Malta continued to consolidate its position in, but also in new start-ups which you think might make it in Malta.
As the Dean also mentioned, I greatly appreciate how your role continued to gain in importance with the presence of many foreigners – many of them from the countries that accredited you – who are in Malta for work or study purposes.
Apart from the procedures tied to purely consular aspects, you also need to provide guidance and direction on our country’s laws and other regulations so that these foreigners can adapt well to life in Malta, and know well what their rights are.
It is very important that they have access, like others do, to all their rights.
I ask you to yourselves be agents of integration and inclusion within the Maltese community through social, cultural, or sporting initiatives with entities such as the Local Councils and others.
Before I conclude, I would like to thank you for the support the Honorary Consular Corps has always given me throughout all my years of work as Minister and President.
It was always of great satisfaction and pleasure for me to meet you both within this group and individually to discuss your ideas, initiatives, and even challenges.
I hope that you will keep this same spirit of cooperation and support with whoever succeeds me.
I would like to conclude by wishing you and your families all the very best for a New Year full of happiness, and above all, good health.
Thank you.
