Joint Press Statements With Maltese Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi After Their Meeting
Remarks
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Secretary of State
Prime Minister's Office
Valletta, Malta
October 18, 2011
PRIME MINISTER GONZI: Good
morning. Thank you for joining us for this press statement. Once again,
Excellency, Madam Secretary of State, it’s a pleasure to have you here
and to express at great (inaudible) my welcome to you for this visit to
Malta. This has been an opportunity for us, once again, to reiterate the
strong relationship and friendship that exists between Malta and the
United States, a relationship that has grown over the years,
strengthening from one circumstance to another and also finding its
culmination, I must say, in the recent events that have happened in the
Mediterranean region.
All of you are aware that events in the
Mediterranean in these last 10 months, 11 months, have brought
tremendous change, which we in Malta consider to be very good news for
all of us. This is a transformation that is taking place. It is a
historic event that has taken place, and history has demanded from Malta
a specific role, which we have performed and tried to perform to the
best of our abilities.
We see now that the phase of evacuation and
violence is hopefully finished, and we see three countries – Tunisia,
Egypt, and Libya – moving towards a path that hopefully will lead to a
democracy, which the people of these countries with themselves, designed
for themselves. And therefore, Malta will continue to provide and
support in the widest manner possible.
And this was a theme which
we discussed in some detail with Madam Secretary of State, and I am
pleased to note that we are completely – in complete agreement on what
needs to be done in the immediate circumstance, which is still a little
bit of a humanitarian challenge, especially with what has been happening
in Sirte and continues to happen, but also in the medium to long term
and how – what contribution we can make, all of us, to see the whole
scenario develop in the best interest, not only of our region, but I
would say of the whole world.
We also spent some quality time
discussing bilateral issues of importance. Malta is extremely grateful
to the Government of the United States for the support we have received
constantly on the issue of resettlement of immigrants and resettlement
of these persons in the United States, and we appreciate the
contribution, the help and support, the understanding that we’ve
constantly received from the United States. We are also grateful that we
have mentioned recent times to sign a (inaudible) agreement, a visa
waiver agreement, all of which are clear indications of this strong
relationship that continues to develop.
So I believe that this
visit, once again, consolidates something which is already very strong,
but prepares also an opportunity for us to continue to grow in the
future. So thank you very much, Madam, and I leave the – it open for
you.
SECRETARY CLINTON: Thank you so much, Prime
Minister. And I am pleased to be the first Secretary of State in the
United States to visit Malta in more than two decades. It is, for me,
the opportunity that I was seeking to thank the government and people of
Malta for their extraordinary response to the events of this last year
and to reaffirm the strong partnership and friendship between our two
countries.
I’m also delighted to announce that President Obama has
decided to nominate one of our most experienced diplomats, Gina
Abercrombie-Winstanley, to be our ambassador here. We stand ready to
assist in every way possible with Malta’s critical role in the events of
the Arab Spring and now the fall.
In our meeting today, I thanked
the prime minister for Malta’s assistance in evacuating American
citizens and Embassy staff from Libya earlier this year. The prime
minister, the entire government, and many private citizens went the
extra mile to get our people home safely, and we are very grateful.
As
you just heard from the prime minister, as someone who is on the
frontlines of watching what is happening here in the Mediterranean
region, he is very well acquainted with the challenges and opportunities
that the people of Libya, Egypt, Tunisia, and the greater region are
facing. And in fact, I think that the prime minister has been
particularly helpful in meeting with and counseling representatives of
the new Libya over the last several months, as they look to build a new
future for their country. There’s no doubt that Malta will continue to
play a critical role in helping to establish the rule of law and
providing health and education services and to help create an inclusive
government that will represent all Libyans from all areas of the
country, and of course including the women of Libya. Malta’s unique
geography, history, and expertise will make it a valued partner in this
work.
The prime minister and I also discussed our shared interest
in keeping the Mediterranean safe from illicit nuclear materials and
enforcing international sanctions against Iran’s proliferation
activities. The United States appreciates Malta’s leadership in this
area, including its work with the international community to interdict
prohibited Iranian cargo, to deny port access to ships that are bearing
illegal cargoes, and working as a good partner in the enforcement of
United Nations sanctions. I also want to recognize Malta’s efforts to
stop the flow of human trafficking across the Mediterranean and to
assist political refugees from conflicts in Sub-Saharan Africa as well.
All
of these efforts underscore that while Malta may be a small nation in
size, its contributions to regional peace and security are significant.
And the United States highly values this partnership, and we look
forward to working even more closely in the future.
So, again, let
me thank you, Prime Minister, for your leadership. Let me thank your
government, with whom we have excellent cooperative relationships, and
let me thank the people of Malta for not only their hospitality to me
and my delegation, but more importantly their openness and support for
the aspirations of the people in this extraordinarily important region.
So thank you very much.
