Malta had no interest in delaying the release of either frozen Libyan assets or the two Mirage jet fighters flown to Malta early in the Libyan conflict, Foreign Minister Tonio Borg has told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
The government has already written to the UN Security Council on this issue, but the world organisation is making too many conditions for the release. Dr Borg warned that if the transitional government was allowed to run out of cash for the payment of wages it could look to Iran or other regimes with all the ramifications.
Answering questions by committee members, he said that at this stage it would not be wise to expect to reach any agreement on oil exploration with the transitional government, but the two countries could move forward on other aspects.
Dr Borg said that the government had designated Col. Andrew Mallia of the Armed Forces of Malta to join an EU team to help Libya’s better surveillance of its 2,000 kilometres of coast and 7,000 kilometres of frontiers.
The Libyan transitional government was showing great interest in joining the Union for the Mediterranean and the Euro-Mediterranean Parliamentary Assembly, and Malta had lost no time in agreeing and giving its written consent.
On being asked for training facilities Malta had offered four scholarships in the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies and the Institute of Tourism Studies.
Dr Borg said the Maltese delegation which had been the first to visit Libya had found the level of the new politicians to be very high. They had all studied overseas and worked in exile and could have stayed put but had chosen to go back. They had good global vision, spoke perfect English and were people one could talk and agree with.
They would no doubt try to develop industry and tourism, both of which offered great opportunities for Maltese businesses along with training.
Libya had a special interest in Malta and would like it to help with the organisation of elections for a constituent assembly within eight months. They had no electoral commission, register or boundaries, and Malta had already offered the help of its Electoral Commission.
Dr Borg said that without sounding patronising, Malta could also help with establishing democratic functions such as an Ombudsman.