Malta is considering granting full recognition to the National Transitional Council, which would entail handing over to it Libya’s frozen assets on the island, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg said yesterday.
His comments come a day after the Maltese government said it had recognised the Council as “the sole legitimate interlocutor of the Libyan people”.
Addressing Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Dr Borg explained the difference between the two positions. Full recognition, which has been granted by Italy, meant the council would be seen as the only legitimate government of Libya. This would entail giving it the frozen assets belonging to the Libyan government in Malta. It would also involve setting up an embassy in Benghazi and closing Libya’s embassy in Malta.
Malta has decided to send a delegation to Benghazi to begin meetings with the Council, meet the Maltese community there and facilitate aid and commercial logistics.
The delegation, which arrived in Benghazi yesterday, is headed by Ambassador Victor Camilleri.
The Libyan Embassy in Malta would remain open, Dr Borg said, adding, however, that communication between Malta and the government of Muammar Gaddafi had diminished significantly.
“Our contact with the Libyan government is being reduced to the bare minimum while our contact with the Council has increased to the point that we are sending a permanent representative there,” Dr Borg said, adding he still reserved the right to complain to the Libyan Ambassador about issues like irregular immigrant arrivals from Libya.
During the Committee meeting, Labour MP George Vella questioned the frequent emergency landings of French Mirage fighter jets in Malta. Dr Borg said the number of landings was very small compared to the number of trips being made over the island and that the government was convinced each request to make an emergency landing was genuine.
Dr Vella said the government should have informed the opposition of the decision to partially recognise the Council rather than inform the press first. While the opposition agreed with most of the actions being taken, he questioned whether it made sense to restrict communication only to the Council and no other movements in Libya.
Nationalist MEP Simon Busuttil asked Dr Borg whether EUFOR should divert the migration flow from parts of Libya towards Benghazi in a coordinated manner as part of its humanitarian mission moving people who are fleeing from the occupied to the liberated part of the country.
Dr Borg said Benghazi was suffering major economic problems and the migrants, predominantly from sub-Saharan Africa, were seeking to go to Europe, not simply to a conflict-free zone. However, since they were fleeing war they could be given humanitarian protection, which would benefit Malta in the long run. Dr Borg explained that, once given protection, the migrants could temporarily “circulate” around Europe legally.
Although they could be sent back if they were found to be settled in an EU country, “they would have to be caught first”, Dr Borg said, confirming that this was very difficult.
During the Committee meeting, Dr Borg also confirmed that the 5+5 summit, which was scheduled to take place in Malta this year, had been postponed indefinitely.