Foreign and European Affairs Minister Evarist Bartolo participated in the Foreign Affairs Council held in Brussels.
Foreign Affairs Ministers met to discuss a number of pertinent issues on the international agenda, notably the EU-US relations following the elections last month, as well the concept of Strategic Autonomy. With an emphasis on human rights, Ministers also discussed the post-election situation in Georgia, elections in Venezuela, as well as recent developments in the Eastern Mediterranean.
In view of the upcoming Human Rights Day on December 10th, Minister Bartolo underlined that committing itself to human rights primacy vests the EU with an added credibility. “Yet conversely, we will only undermine our good intentions if we are perceived to practice double standards, based on convenience and vested interests”.
On EU-US relations, Minister Bartolo stated that dealing with the new administration requires a pragmatic approach as, although the indications are positive with regard to some policy shifts, engagement with the US depends on the current geo-political landscape. In this context, he stressed the importance of engaging with the US on international policy areas, particularly on Libya, the Middle East and Iran, within the limits of the prevalent political realities. He added that the strengthening of multilateralism in the current global context is as important as ever and the EU should work closely with the US so that it adopts a more active role in international organisations once again.
On Strategic Autonomy; a concept that has gained momentum over the last couple of months, not least because of the COVID-19 pandemic; Minister Bartolo said that the EU’s outward looking approach is one of its strengths which should be sustained. He stressed that as a promoter of multilateralism and a supporter of a strong, rules-based multilateral trading system, looking inward would not make the EU any more strategic, or any more autonomous.
In the margins of the Foreign Affairs Council, Minister Bartolo participated in the videoconference of the EU-Algeria Association Council.
