Malta to continue knocking on EU’s door

Malta is convinced it has “a valid case” in asking for the activation of the EU’s immigrant emergency mechanism and will keep up its efforts to convince sceptical member states, according to the Prime Minister.

Lawrence Gonzi yesterday side-stepped EU Home Affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström’s statement on Monday when she said there was no qualified majority among member states to support Malta’s request.

The emergency mechanism has never been utilised and it would give displaced people automatic protection and the right to be resettled in all EU member states. It requires the Commission to make a formal proposal that would have to be approved by a qualified majority in the council of ministers.

Dr Gonzi, who spoke to journalists after inaugurating a new maritime patrol craft for the Armed Forces of Malta, insisted the government would continue to make its case that migration spurred by the civil war in Libya was an EU-wide problem.

He noted that countries like France and Germany had in the past helped Malta by accepting to resettle a number of refugees. The government has until now remained mum on which countries were objecting to Malta’s proposal.

The issue was also raised during a meeting in Rome between Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg and his Italian counterpart Franco Frattini.

According to a Department of Information statement, Mr Frattini accepted Malta’s argument that the definition of mass influx – which is not defined in the EU emergency directive – depended on the country’s size and the arrival of more than 800 migrants in the span of 24 hours in a densely populated island led to a crisis. The statement, however, did not say whether Italy would be supporting Malta’s request.

Dr Borg also informed Mr Frattini of the talks between the Libyan deputy Foreign Minister and Dr Gonzi on Monday evening at the Auberge de Castille. On the same day that Malta was meeting the Libyan leader’s envoy, Italy announced it was severing all ties with Muammar Gaddafi and recognising the Benghazi-based rebel council as the sole interlocutor.

Asked whether the government would be recognising the Libyan transitional national council, Dr Gonzi said the decision “will be taken at the right moment”.

Malta has so far refused to officially recognise the rebel council, which until now is considered to be the legitimate representative of Libya by only France, Italy and Qatar.