MaltaMedia.com

Warning: strip_tags() expects parameter 1 to be string, array given in /homepages/3/d137214294/htdocs/mm/wp-includes/formatting.php on line 631

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Tonio Borg, whilst addressing the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union, thanked his counterparts whose governments have pledged to take a number of illegal immigrants from Malta under the resettlement project for Malta. Foreign Minister Tonio Borg stated that Malta had received around 1,400 illegal immigrants in a three month span as a direct result of the developments which have been taking place in the Southern Mediterranean rim.

Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said that the EU and UN sanctions on Libya currently in force are assisting in their effectiveness towards the eventual termination of the current conflict. The European Union has been the major financial contributor in the Libyan crisis so far. Humanitarian aid granted by the European Union to date amounts to €125 million. This amount includes repatriation flights undertaken by EU Member States to assist displaced conflict refugees and provisions of humanitarian aid.

The Foreign Affairs Council welcomed the initiative by the High Representative Catherine Ashton to open a technical EU Office in Benghazi, purposely to provide further assistance in a show of solidarity to the Libyan people. This office will not be a substitute to the delegation office originally planned to be opened in Tripoli, which Foreign Ministers have agreed to open as soon as the circumstances allow.

When speaking on Egypt and Tunisia, Deputy Prime Minister Tonio Borg emphasised that the European Union cannot fail the needs of the Egyptians and Tunisians. Once these two peoples would have elected their democratic representatives, a process through which the EU is assisting in ensuring free and fair elections, the EU would then need to strengthen their economies, Dr Borg said. This would eventually provide Egyptians and Tunisians what they have been striving for – a better quality of life.

On Syria, the Foreign Affairs Council has condemned in the strongest terms the unacceptable use of violence against peaceful protestors. Whilst stating that those accountable should be held responsible, the European Union has decided to impose further restrictive measures on additional persons, including at the highest level of the Syrian leadership.