Foreign affairs shadow minister Carm Mifsud Bonnici told Parliament yesterday the Opposition had agreed with the government about recalling the remaining Maltese diplomats from Libya and temporarily relocating the embassy to Malta, in view of the pressures that were being exerted by factions in Tripoli and Tobruk.

Introducing the debate on the ministry’s financial estimates for 2015, Dr Mifsud Bonnici said the Libya issue remained top priority.

Libya still had strong socio-economic ties with Malta but it was wrong to assume that a country that was emerging from such a harsh dictatorship as that of Muammar Gaddafi could do so without any help from the EU. Dr Mifsud Bonnici also expressed the Opposition’s concern over the situation in the Middle East, saying violence and extremism were not the answer.

Earlier, Dr Mifsud Bonnici referred to the Mediterranean and neighbouring areas, which were in continuous turmoil.

Malta had its own position. It could not be belligerent or advocate violence as the answer but one had to be vigilant and not be absent from important international fora.

The surrounding civil wars and the spread of infectious diseases meant that Malta’s Foreign Ministry needed to be more proactive.

He said that the Opposition was pleased to see a new, more inclusive approach by Foreign Minister George Vella. Meetings were being held regularly between the government and the Opposition, and he advocated it should be a constitutional obligation for such meetings to be held on a regular basis.

He also proposed holding two or three annual parliamentary debates on Malta’s foreign policy.

He criticised the government for appointing political people in ambassadorial posts and promised a PN government would ensure that ambassadors would be approved by the House Foreign and European Affairs Committee.