Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/265009
12 DESPITE being the oldest minis- ter in Joseph Muscat's Cabinet, For- eign Affairs Minister George Vella retains the enthusiasm and energy of a man half his age, and his knowl- edge and understanding of world politics is truly impressive. And the 71-year-old is a very busy man of late. Since taking office last year, Vella has had a hectic timeta- ble, with the armed conflict in Syria, the deadly clashes in Ukraine and the instability in Libya taking up much of his and his fellow EU for- eign ministers' time. However, as the recent MaltaTo- day survey on ministers' popularity showed, the foreign affairs portfolio is not the most rewarding. Thirty- four percent of respondents could not judge him, indicating that a large section of the electorate do not perceive the foreign affairs min- ister as having a direct bearing on their lives. While most Cabinet members maintain close contact with the electorate through their everyday activities, Vella spends most of his time dealing with ambassadors and ministers from around the globe, giving him little visibility. However, Vella can count himself lucky because he will be spared any possible electoral blushes, since last year's elections were his last. Yet, this does not necessarily mean that in four years time, the Zejtun family doctor will be a retired man. His name is among those being touted to replace outgoing Presi- dent George Abela at San Anton, and I cannot resist asking him whether there was any truth in these rumours. "I'm not really interested in what is being said. I have not been ap- proached, I have not engaged in any discussions and I feel at home here. I enjoy my job and things are getting done. If the Prime Minister takes a decision and makes a proposal, then I would sit down and consider it," Vella says. The minister is however less re- luctant to speak on the quandary which all foreign ministers face, with Vella insisting that the nature of his job makes it difficult for people to appreciate his performance. "The job of a foreign affairs minis- ter does not include inaugurations or initiating programmes which benefit the people directly. The foreign af- fairs minister is a facilitator. If a dou- ble taxation agreement is signed with another country, there's nothing in it for me but the economy reaps the benefits, if an aviation agreement is signed, tourism the main benefici- ary." With a smile on his face, he adds that, "luckily I will not be contesting the next elections, however all pre- vious foreign ministers struggled to get re-elected because they have no goodies to give away and what they deliver is not visible. But I must ad- mit that it's a very interesting job and it gives great satisfactions." Earlier this month, the Labour Par- ty held its general conference enti- tled 'Malta: Maltese, European, Glo- bal' and I ask Vella what his vision of a Malta in the 21st century is like. "Firstly, we must look at our im- mediate geographic position in the middle of the Mediterranean, which has always been given importance by successive governments," he says. Moreover, Vella adds that the wider European and global dimension has both a direct and an indirect impact on Malta. In recent months, Vella says, Malta has been sowing seeds in the Gulf, China, the US, Russia and Australia among other countries, adding that "hopefully these will reap economic benefits". The interview was held on Friday, just a few hours after Vella flew back from an EU Foreign Affairs Council Meeting which was urgently con- vened to discuss the worsening de- velopments in Ukraine. As we sat in Vella's office at Pal- azzo Parisio – where Napoleon fa- mously stayed during his seven-day stay in 1798 – little did we know that 24 hours later, the Ukrainian Presi- dent Viktor Yanukovych would flee Kiev, a day after he signed a land- mark peace deal with the Opposition aimed at bringing an end to days of bloody protests. Yesterday, the Ukrainian parlia- ment voted to dismiss Yanukovych and hold early elections on 25 May, however, hours after returning from the urgent EU meeting, Vella was hopeful that a solution was in the pipeline. Admitting that the situation was deteriorating at a very fast rate, even before demonstrators reportedly took control of the presidential pal- ace and government buildings, Vella was confident that the agreement to hold early presidential elections, form a national unity government and make constitutional changes re- ducing the president's powers would lead to a peaceful solution. He explains that the council's con- cerns went beyond the humanitarian front, with hundreds of people either killed or injured on both sides and radical elements within the protest movement who have showed a will- ingness to use weapons. "I'm not justifying violence on any side, however seeing a protest move- ment which started off peacefully turn so violent, is shocking." He adds that there are other con- cerns, including the possible disinte- gration of the Ukraine, an economic collapse, the negative effect all these factors could have on neighbouring countries, including EU member states and, last but not least, a diplo- matic crisis involving Russia, the US and the EU. Vella says that these concerns were discussed at length at Thursday's meeting, noting that all member states were worried by the extremist factions, including neo-Nazis, within the demonstrators and the excessive use of force by the government's se- curity forces. "In such cases, you cannot appor- tion blame, but it is simply unac- ceptable to witness such violence in a civilised country," Vella says, adding that apart from the sanc- tions imposed by the council, three EU foreign ministers from Germany, France and Poland mediated talks in Kiev with Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich which led to an agreement on Friday. The sanctions, Vella explains, were mainly aimed a group of people who are bankrolling the violent demon- strations. The targeted sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, were aimed at what Vella describes as "oligarchs" who are "funding" the demonstrators who have been occu- pying Independence Square in Kiev for over two months. The protests first erupted in late November when Yanukovych reject- ed a landmark association and trade deal with the EU in favour of closer ties with Russia. However, Vella in- sists that while resuscitating the deal was distant, the agreement was never intended to create a conflict between Russia and Europe. "The deal has been put on the back burner and it certainly is not a prior- ity. The priorities are an immediate return to peace, political stability and getting the economy back on its feet," he says. Another conflict which has occu- pied news headlines and the inter- national agenda over the last three years is Syria, however Vella is less optimistic about a peaceful solution being found in the nearby future in the war-torn country. While explaining the situation in Syria, it is evident that Vella is passionate about his job as unpro- nounceable names of some armed groups and their leaders roll off his tongue as if he's talking about his neighbours. Was the international community reluctant to carry a military inter- vention in Syria following the fiascos in Iraq and Afghanistan? "Many be- lieve that things went beyond con- trol when America decided against attacking Syrian president Bashar al- Assad. I will not go into the merit of whether this was the right or wrong decision, however some hold that a US military intervention would have changed things drastically." He adds that at the beginning of the conflict, Assad's army was in decline while the Syrian National Army, which the international com- munity had initially recognised as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, had taken control of most of the eastern part of the country, cornering Assad's forces in the south. "At that time, despite the fact that Assad was receiving aid from Russia and Hezbollah, he was losing. The turning point came when Assad, with the help of Hezbollah started gaining ground and the balance of power tilt- ed back towards Assad. Some believe that by then it was too late to inter- vene, and Assad entrenched himself in the area bordering with Lebanon, establishing a stalemate." Vella explains that concurrently, the Kurds took control of northern Syria and the rest of the country was a "free for all". Yet, thanks to Iran and Russia's assistance to Assad, coupled with the aid given to the Sunni rebels by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, "Syria is a country infiltrated by everyone, in- cluding Al Qaeda, The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, Taliban and Al-Nusra and the areas under the rebels' control has become a battle ground for these forces, including fundamentalist groups." "People are dying, whether they are being killed by chemical weapons or being shot or dying of hunger, they're still dying," Vella says, adding that the Syrian conflict is a "complicated" proxy war with Russia, the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Iran and jihadists all struggling to gain influence. "I don't know what the solution is and it seems that there's no solu- tion on the horizon," a realistic and almost disheartened Vella tells me, saying that his three main "fears" are the humanitarian tragedy, the displacement of millions of refugees and the repercussions it could have on the delicate Middle East. Moreover, he says that the ques- tion the EU and the international community is now asking is whether it would have been wiser to stick with Assad on certain conditions or whether they should have thrown their weight behind the rebels. "But nobody has an answer to that ques- tion," he adds. Staying in the region, we turn our attention to the perennial Israeli- Palestinian conflict. While acknowl- edging that the Syrian war has some- what cast the Israeli-Palestinian conflict aside, Vella explains that the new US Secretary of State John Kerry had given the peace process a new impetus. Sharing Kerry's conviction that the solution lays in reinstating pre-1967 borders, Vella says that this would automatically find a solution to the settlements issue. But Vella says that despite the optimistic signs and the new drive in the US foreign policy, he was greatly disheartened after meeting a number of prominent politicians, activists and academ- ics, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and justice minister Tzipi Livni and Palestinian activist Hanan Ashrawi. "Whoever we met, from both sides of the divide, politicians, activists and academics, told us 'no chance'. They know that all attempts have failed and that there's no mutual trust." Vella however disagrees with the predominant Western mistrust in Interview By Jurgen Balzan LIBYAN OPTIMISM Zeidan's government is slowly getting stronger despite the territorial divide, financial woes and the threats of armed militias UKRAINIAN CRISIS You cannot apportion blame, but it is simply unacceptable to witness such violence in a civilised country President? I'm enjoying my job