The Speaker of the Parliament of Malta, Hon. Michael Frendo, paid an official visit to the
Secretariat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean (PAM), which is hosted in
Malta. This is the first visit at the PAM Headquarters by Hon. Frendo since he was nominated
Speaker of the Maltese House of Representatives, although operational meetings and discussions
are regularly held with the PAM Secretary General on various issues and activities. The visit
took place on Tuesday 1st February, 2011.
Hon. Frendo was welcomed by the PAM Secretary General, Dr. Sergio Piazzi, who underlined
the important role that Malta has always played in the setting up of the Assembly and
particularly by offering to host it in the historical Palazzo Spinola, in St. Julians. “The visit of the
Speaker of the Parliament of Malta is an opportunity to thank Malta for its continued active
participation and for its initiatives to keep the Mediterranean region high on the agenda not only
in the Assembly but in all international fora”, Dr. Piazzi said.
The Speaker of the Maltese Parliament reminded how, throughout the years, various Maltese
parliamentarians, have worked to develop and achieve the objective of a regional organization
that focuses, through parliamentary diplomacy, on the region. “PAM is an example of
multilateral parliamentary diplomacy, and this shows that parliamentarians have an important
role to play in international diplomacy”, Dr. Frendo said.
Hon. Frendo reiterated his personal support and that of the Maltese parliament to the Assembly,
since Malta believes that through soft diplomacy a lot can be achieved along with traditional
diplomacy. As an example he mentioned his personal experience during the 5th Plenary Session
of PAM in Morocco, in late October 2010, where he was positively impressed by the fact that
Israeli and Palestinian parliamentarians, including the Speaker of the Knesset, could dialogue
and exchange views on major issues of concern for the Middle East process, thus confirming the
importance of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Mediterranean.
In reply to a question by the press on PAM’s position vis-à-vis the current developments in
countries of the Southern Mediterranean, PAM Secretary General said that last week the Bureau,
led by the President, Hon. Mohammed Abu El Enein(Egypt), discussed in detail the situation and
confirmed the Assembly’s support to the fundamental principles of democracy and the important
role of the parliamentary institutions representing the citizens. Dr. Piazzi added that while the
Secretariat is in regular contact with the member parliamentarians of the national delegations, the
Bureau agreed that PAM is at the full disposal of those countries, should they request its
assistance, to support them in future processes that can help in the achievement of stability,
peace and security for the benefit of those countries themselves and in the interest of the
Mediterranean region in general.
Hon. Frendo and Dr. Piazzi discussed also future collaboration and events that will be organized
in the coming months, amongst which, the meeting at the request of the United Nations, on the
Constitutional Reforms in Bosnia and Herzegovina to be hosted by Malta, the meeting of the
PAM Political Committee in Ankara, Turkey, the meeting of the PAM Panel on External Trade
and Investments in the Mediterranean to be hosted by the UNECE in Geneva and the meeting
hosted by the Italian Civil Protection under the auspices of the Italian Parliament on the
Environmental risks related to oil production and transport in the Mediterranean region.