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Karl Schembri
Malta is lobbying with European and Arab states for a conference convening foreign ministers from the EU and the Arab League in a bid to find a common political direction against the rise of fundamentalism.
Since last September, Foreign Minister Michael Frendo has been proposing to the EU presidency, currently held by Finland, and to the Arab League, to hold the conference in Malta to give a statement about the willingness to find a common approach while supporting moderate Arab states whose own stability is under threat by internal extremist factions.
The minister also sent a formal letter to the EU presidency last October urging it to consider the proposal as fundamentalism was also undermining the European Union’s agenda.
Tomorrow, the minister is expected to elaborate on his proposal in Parliament when he will be discussing his ministry’s budget.
Contacted yesterday night, Frendo confirmed his proposal.
“I think it’s an important initiative by our country, to engage with the Arab world at a time when effective political dialogue is badly needed,” Frendo said.
Frendo has already been in talks with other European foreign ministers about the conference, as well as with the Secretary General of the Arab League, Amr Moussa.
Last Friday, Moussa urged Arab nations to reunite on the major political challenges facing them.
“It is important that we interact with the world and agree on the major guidelines of the Arab policy to confronting the major challenges we face,” he said in Damascus.
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