Metsola calls for further investment in diplomatic studies

Tonio Fenech urges government to increase its efforts to ensure that the EU understands the need to play a more active role with regards the Libyan situation. 

Roberta Metsola and Tonio Fenech
Roberta Metsola and Tonio Fenech

Malta should invest more heavily in diplomatic studies and training, shadow foreign affairs minister and MEP Roberta Metsola said.
“Diplomacy and bilateral negotiations are no longer limited solely to people who work in embassies,” Metsola said during a visit to the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies (MEDAC) at the University. “Civil servants occupying executive posts participate in a number of talks, particularly those within the EU sphere; this is a huge responsibility that requires particular skills.”

She also insisted that the EU put Libya at the forefront of its agenda to prevent the situation in the country from deteriorating further.

Foreign affairs spokesman Tonio Fenech said that Malta must take a more active role in international diplomacy as a means of shifting the focus of other countries to the unstable region.

“The Nationalist Party urges the government to increase its efforts to ensuring that our European partners understand the need for the EU to play a more active role in the Mediterranean, particularly as far as Libya is concerned,” Fenech said.