Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia participated in the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments, held in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia, on 28–29 March 2022.
The conference was attended by speakers and presidents or their representatives from 39 parliaments/chambers of 27 member states, as well as by the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. Also taking part were speakers or their representatives from five EU candidate countries, North Macedonia, Turkey, and a further four countries attended as observers, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Iceland, Norway, and Switzerland.
A special address via video link was delivered by Mr Ruslan Stefanchuk, Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine. The conference was chaired by Mr Igor Zorčič, President of the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia, and Mr Alojz Kovšca, President of the National Council of the Republic of Slovenia.
The conference was divided into two sessions:
The Role of Parliaments in Emergency Politics – Building Resilience for Democratic Governance; and
European Union as the Guarantor of Stability, Security and Prosperity in the Region (and beyond)
Speaker Anġlu Farrugia addressed the conference during Session 2, during which he spoke on the challenges all countries must face in an ever-more volatile and unstable world. In his speech, he emphasised the importance of peace not just as a prerequisite for stability and security, but also as the foundation for a prosperous economy. Whilst condemning the Russian aggression in Ukraine which are causing untold pain and hardship on civilians, he noted that although Malta, due to its neutral status enshrined in the Constitution, cannot be militarily involved in the conflict in the region, this did not mean that the Maltese citizens and authorities were not sensitive to the unfolding humanitarian crisis and consequently expressed full support for humanitarian assistance through the European Peace Facility, amongst others. Speaker Farrugia also referred to Malta’s successful insistence to include a Mediterranean Chapter in the 1975 Helsinki Final Act. The argument used at the time that there can be no peace in Europe without peace in the Mediterranean stood the test of time and can also be applied to the EU’s Eastern neighbours.
Speaker Farrugia also referred to the Resolution adopted by the 144th Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Assembly held in March 2022 in Indonesia which, following an amendment supported by the Maltese delegation, included a recommendation for the establishment of a Task Force on the situation in Ukraine to facilitate the role of parliaments in formulating feasible peaceful solutions. In this respect, he moved an amendment to the text of the conference conclusions wherein he proposed that the speakers call for the active contribution of EU parliaments towards such initiatives of parliamentary diplomacy and inter-parliamentary cooperation. The amendment was unanimously adopted by the Conference of Speakers of the European Union Parliaments.
Photo (SPK)
