I refer to the article titled ‘Diplomats ordered not to use presidency logo’ (February 11).

The Ministry for Foreign Affairs will not comment on the opinions expressed in the article, however it would like to outline the following.

The Foreign Affairs Council is never presided by the minister for foreign affairs of the state holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Foreign Affairs Council is always presided by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and vice-president of the European Commission, currently, Federica Mogherini.

The minister for foreign affairs of the state holding the presidency of the Council of the EU co-chairs the Foreign Affairs Council. This same arrangement also stands for the Development Council, for which the minister is also a co-chair.

During the presidency, the minister will be presiding over a number of meetings, some of them on a ministerial level, on behalf of High Representative Mogherini. Minister George Vella has already been informed that, on behalf of Mogherini, during the presidency he will be presiding over a minimum of nine of these meetings.

This is being stated to correct the impression given to readers by the following: “Despite being the Foreign Minister – normally considered the second most important government officialin EU member states – George Vella is among the few Cabinet ministers not assigned to chair council formation meetings during Malta’s presidency of the European Council.”

Editorial note: The main issue of the news article St John refers to were instructions the Ministry for Foreign Affairs gave its officers not to use the EU presidency logo in official correspondence. Furthermore, three e-mails on the subject were sent to obtain the ministry’s reaction prior to the publication of the story but they remained unanswered. Finally, the list of Maltese ministers presiding over council formations, and which excluded the Foreign Minister, was supplied to this newspaper by the government’s EU presidency unit.

 

 

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