The biggest problem today is the gap between rich and poor countries, European Commission President Romano Prodi said recently. There is so much misery in the world that any politician should feel in duty bound to do something about it.
What is the Maltese politicians' contribution in this regard?
Cyprus
Leaders of the Cypriot political parties involved in reconciliation talks met at the Council of Europe last week. The meeting was in support of the UN plan to bring an end to the island's division.
A Cypriot cedar tree, symbolically covered with earth from both parts of the island, was planted in the Council's garden overlooking the Parc de l'Orangerie. An exchange of views on common history teaching and the role of the media was also held.
It is a pity that while the people of Cyprus want to be reunited, the top political leaders of the northern part of the island continue to be stubbornly against unification.
Kosovo
The Council of Europe has set up a decentralisation mission in Kosovo to promote a system of local councils. Ambassador Carlo Civiletti has just submitted his interim report. He reiterated that local self-government is the key to the future of Kosovo - as indeed it is to all other regions and countries.
International Criminal Court
Swiss liberal M.P. Dick Marty on behalf of the Council of Europe expressed his regret at the recent renewal of UN Security Council Resolution 1422, which exempts UN peacekeepers from ICC jurisdiction. This decision, he said, is a legally questionable and politically damaging interference in the functioning of the court.
Malta has done well to support the EU's policy of backing the ICC to the hilt, even if this meant renouncing to considerable US military aid.
Strasbourg
French Prime Minister Jean-Pierre Raffarin visited the Council of Europe on Wednesday to discuss the role of Strasbourg as a European capital and the possibility of holding a third Council of Europe summit.
There is still strong opposition to Strasbourg as the seat of the European Parliament because of its bad connections and marginal position compared to Brussels. But France is adamant on keeping Strasbourg as a European hub.
Death penalty
On July 1 Protocol No. 13 to the European Convention on Human Rights, outlawing the death penalty in all circumstances, came into force. The Council considers the death penalty as the worst of all human rights violations. It is hoped that all member states will ratify the new protocol.
Healthy environment
Spanish socialist M.P. Cristina Agudo has recommended to the Council of Europe to include an additional right to the European Convention on Human Rights: the right to a healthy environment.
She suggested to draft a new protocol, which would oblige states to protect individuals from health hazards caused by a polluted environment. Congratulations to Mrs Agudo for her bright idea!
EU jobs
No fewer than 37,908 applications for permanent entry-level positions reached the EU from the ten acceding countries by June 24. From Malta, there were 78 applicants for secretarial jobs, 94 for assistant translators, and 263 for assistant administrators.
There is a real danger of a brain drain of health care professionals - doctors, radiographers, nurses, laboratory technicians, etc. - from the acceding countries to the more advanced EU member states after May 1, 2004.
The solution is to improve work conditions for such professionals in their respective countries so that they do not need to work abroad.
Olive branch
Labour MP Leo Brincat has offered a fragrant olive branch to Foreign Minister Joe Borg in a short and sweet article he wrote in The Times last Monday.
"When circumstances so dictate, I will be only too pleased to work towards the achievement of joint positions," he wrote. Well done, Mr Brincat!
To keep up our island's image abroad and attract respect and investments, our foreign policy should proceed, and be seen to proceed, as smoothly as possible.
Borg Pisani's legacy
Was he a hero or a traitor? I do not think he was a hero, but surely he was not a traitor. He was a good man, and most unlucky.
He was hanged at Corradino prisons in 1942 for spying for Italy. Three Maltese judges - Joe Borg, Edgar Ganado and William Harding - condemned him to the gallows by strictly applying the law.
Was he a promising artist or a mediocre one? If he had been given the chance to complete his studies in Rome, he would probably have become a great artist, given his unrivalled enthusiasm.
There is a painting of his in one of our churches, and his friend Carlo Liberto owns a few others.
The Borg Pisani story is beautifully retold in Laurence Mizzi's third book on the subject - Il-Kaz Borg Pisani - which has just been published by PEG.
The book is interesting because it includes the views and comments of several people who knew Borg Pisani when he was a happy boy in his native Senglea, when he attended the Italian school in Valletta, when he studied art in Rome and when he landed stealthily in Malta on a spying mission.
The book also includes the legal proceedings which led to Borg Pisani's untimely and unjust death.
Borg Pisani's case has been likened recently by two different authors to that of Mikiel Anton Vassalli. Vassalli conspired to free Malta from the Knights of St John and promote Maltese nationhood. His life was spared because the French knights interceded for him.
Borg Pisani wanted to free his beloved Malta from British colonial rule and promote its Italian cultural identity. He was caught red-handed, but nobody came to his rescue. He was really unlucky.