Your Excellency
Distinguished Guests
Ladies and Gentlemen
It is an honour and a pleasure for me to welcome Your Excellency, President of the Palestinian Authority to Malta for an official visit.
This is the second time Malta is welcoming the President of the Palestinian Authority. On the other occasion, President Yasser Arafat visited Malta in 1997 to attend a Euro-Med Conference.
On his part, in 1991 Prof. Guido de Marco visited the occupied territories in Palestine and Jordan in his capacity as President of the United Nations General Assembly. In December 1999, Prof. de Marco, President of Malta was invited by President Arafat to attend the Bethlehem festivities to mark 2000 years anniversary since the birth of Christ. On this occasion, President de Marco had talks with President Arafat wherein they evaluated developments relative to the Middle East Peace Process. This visit marked the friendship that characterises Maltese-Palestinian long-lasting ties.
This is an auspicious visit in that it comes at an important time in the relations between Palestine and Israel in an effort to find a solution that will hopefully result in the creation of the State of Palestine permitting Israelis and Palestinians to live peacefully within recognised borders.
Malta’s diplomatic relations with Palestine go back to 1979 when Mr Mourad Essa Bahloul was appointed as the first representative of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation in Malta. Following the election of Yasser Arafat as President of the Palestinian National Authority in 1989, Mr Bahloul was nominated as Palestine's first Ambassador to Malta.
As you are surely aware, the Maltese Government has taken the decision to set up a diplomatic mission in Ramallah. The opening of this mission will underscore Malta’s political will to contribute to the strengthening of relations, in the spirit of mutual trust and confidence, in the pursuit of the common objective of securing peace and security in the region.
Mr President
Relations between Malta and Palestine have been closely bonded together over the years, also by virtue of Malta's role as Rapporteur on the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a 20-member committee established by the United Nations General Assembly to consider and recommend to it a programme that would enable the Palestinian People to exercise the rights recognised in the United Nations General Assembly Resolution number 3236. Malta held this position ever since in the belief that it can work as a moderator between different views on the Palestinian cause.
At the 43rd Session of the United Nations General Assembly in 1998, Malta was co-sponsor to a resolution concerning the Question of Palestine, one of which enabled the PLO delegation to sit behind the place-name ‘Palestine’.
In such a short address it is not possible for me to dwell at any length on the many initiatives that were taken up throughout the years in an umpteenth attempt to find the ultimate solution: the co-existence of two sovereign states within the 1967 boundaries. I shall dwell, however, on the most important recent developments.
Mr President
At the November 2007 international conference at Annapolis both Israel and Palestine committed themselves to conclude a peace treaty before the end of 2008 that would resolve all outstanding issues including all core issues without exception. The cautious optimism that reigned in the run-up and aftermath of the conference has been somewhat dampened by the prevailing situation on the ground, not least the continued settlement activity in occupied territories. Although a mechanism was created to monitor adherence to Road Map obligations, increased confidence building measures are clearly required.
In December 2007, the Palestinian authorities published a three-year plan entitled ‘Building a Palestinian State: Towards Peace and Prosperity’. The plan sets out a strategy for implementing a vision of the future Palestinian State incorporating a bold reform and development agenda and a fiscal plan to reverse the economic trends.
At the international donors’ conference in aid of the Palestinian State held in Paris in December 2007, a total of 7.4 billion US Dollars were pledged over the next three years. During the said conference, Malta pledged 1 million US Dollars over three years for the Palestinian State, covering the provision of technical expertise, scholarships, as well as a financial component.
Within its limits, Malta has always tried to help the Palestinians – it made donations to the Temporary International Mechanism established by the European Union as well as provided support to the European Union Border Mission in Rafah and to United Nations Relief and Work Agency. Each year, the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies also donates two scholarships to two Palestinian students to pursue a Masters degree in Malta.
At last month’s Berlin Conference in support of Palestinian Civil Security and Rule of Law, Malta offered to host Palestinian police officers on familiarisation visits, during which they will be assigned with different sections and branches of the Maltese police force and will exchange experiences with Maltese police officers.
Moreover, during the Donor Conference also held last month in Vienna, Malta made a contribution of 20,000 Euro towards the reconstruction of the Nahr el-Bared refugee camp in northern Lebanon.
The Palestinian Territories feature as a priority area for Malta’s Overseas Development Policy.
Mr President
During the Arab League Summit held in Riyadh on 28th March 2007, the members of the Arab League readopted the 2002 Saudi initiative for all Arab states to normalise relations with Israel if Israel withdraws from all the territories it occupied in 1967, both Palestinian and Syrian. This was an important international development in support of the ongoing talks, in manifestation of the strong commitment by Arab countries to a lasting solution.
I would like to reassure you that in Malta there exists full support to the political aspirations of the Palestinian People. In this regard, Malta will continue to support all efforts aimed at achieving lasting and comprehensive peace to the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Malta looks forward to deepening its traditional friendly ties with the Palestinian Authority – the opening of our Mission in Ramallah, the implementation of a Memorandum of Understanding on Consultations between our respective Ministries of Foreign Affairs and the programme of development assistance to be provided over the next few years, certainly are steps in the right direction and will serve to give visibility to our co-operation.
Providing assistance to Palestinian state-building converges with our long-standing commitment to a two-state solution, inspired by the need to promote the politics of moderation. For these to prevail, we need to prove to your People that the peace dividend is indeed attainable and brings tangible socio-economic improvement in their everyday lives.
Mr President
Looking forward to genuine developments in the agreed commitments and success in implementing your vision and confident that your visit here today will further consolidate our mutual relations, I raise my glass to your health, to the happiness and prosperity of the Palestinian People and to the deepening of friendship and co-operation between our two Peoples.
