Malta's plans against using children in war

The government aims to work in the United Nations towards making the use of children as soldiers in war a crime against humanity, Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg told Parliament yesterday. He said Malta would move concrete proposals to show that although small in size, it had a valid contribution to make on the world stage.

Dr Borg said that contrary to what Dr Michael Falzon (MLP) had said, the government had successfully reached its main aims, including joining the EU, Eurozone and Schengen.

It was Labour, he said, which had not reached its aim of winning the last election which it had been promising to with a certain arrogance. What happened during the electoral campaign was spectacular, he said. The Labour Party was so convinced of victory that it did not realise that the Nationalist Party was also working to win and that it was making positive proposals.

Labour was now blaming the power of incumbency for its defeat. It was saying that the PN won the election because of Mepa and because people living abroad had been brought over to vote. Dr Borg emphasised these people had a right to come and vote.

The Nationalist Party, he said, was conscious that now it had a much smaller majority but nonetheless, the electorate had given it a mandate to govern.

Turning to the pairing agreement between 1996 and 1998, the Deputy Prime Minister denied Labour's claims that this did not exist at the time.

He said that the then opposition had given pairing facilities in some 15 instances between December 11 and April 22, the date when the PN withdrew the agreement.

On April 22, then Opposition leader Dr Eddie Fenech Adami had been made to come to Parliament against doctor's orders because the government had insisted he should personally move a motion. Pairing was then withdrawn.

On the Partnership for Peace programme, Dr Borg said this was not a NATO programme but a programme with NATO. There was in fact a partnership council which included NATO members and members which were not in NATO, like Russia, Belarussia and Switzerland, a neutral country. So, he asked, what was wrong in Malta joining?

Dr Borg said that the main criticism originally had not been in the method but in joining. Parliament had not been called when Malta was withdrawn from the programme by the Labour government.

So why should have it been called when Malta was rejoining?

The government's electoral manifesto, he said, was based on a five-year programme and not a two-month vision.

The opposition could not expect the whole programme to be implemented in a matter of weeks.

Malta, he said, would be using its membership in the EU as a Mediterranean country. His first visits as Foreign Minister were to Libya and Egypt. And the UN committee on the rights of Palestinians would meet in Malta next week.

He also announced that the Russian deputy foreign minister would visit Malta next month for talks aimed at increasing trade and political cooperation.