Joe Borg to chair Med. academy
He will donate his allowance towards student scholarships
Former EU Commissioner Joe Borg has been appointed chairman of the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies.
Dr Borg, who was unanimously accepted by the members of the governing board to succeed the late President Emeritus Guido de Marco, asked for his new allowance to be donated towards student scholarships.
His nomination by the Foreign Affairs Ministry was endorsed by the University of Malta, the Swiss Foreign Ministry and the German government, which have representatives on the Board.
Dr Borg, as Foreign Affairs Minister, was nominated as Malta’s first European Commissioner by former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami soon after the referendum decision to join the EU in 2003.
He first started his work in Brussels in May 2004 as joint Commissioner for Development and in January 2005 was given the portfolio for Fisheries and Maritime Affairs.
Dr Borg had made public his disappointment about the way he was sidestepped by the Prime Minister without prior notice when John Dalli was appointed as his Maltese successor at the beginning of the year.
More recently he was criticised by NGOs when he took on a job as consultant with a Brussels-based PR firm which has companies operating in the maritime sector among its clients.
However, surveys among journalists had shown that Dr Borg ended his term as one of the most popular Commissioners among his other 27 colleagues.
The Academy, which is in university grounds, has been established for the past 20 years and offers courses in diplomacy, even at advanced level, to Maltese students and foreign students.