Foreign Minister Michael Frendo visited the Netherlands earlier last week. The main reason for the visit was to express gratitude at the Dutch Government’s solidarity shown with Malta when it was the first European Union country to respond to Malta’s request for assistance in the resettlement of refugees and persons with humanitarian status.
Minister Michael Frendo met the Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Bot and Mrs. Rita Verdonk, Dutch Minister for Immigration and Integration during bilateral meetings in The Hague last Wednesday. The two Ministers proposed to further cooperation between Malta and Holland in immigration matters.
“Malta firmly believes in the importance of the international rule of law and legal order and this is one of our strategic objectives for foreign policy” Minister Frendo told the President of the International Criminal Court, Mr. Philippe Kirsch and Judge Fausto Focar, President of the International Criminal Tribunal on former Yugoslavia, during a visit to the two Courts in the Hague..
During the meeting at the International Criminal Court, Minister Frendo referred to the Final Communiqué of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting held in Malta in November last year, promoted the universalisation of the International Criminal Court Rome Statute.
Minister Frendo also met Judge Carmel Agius, one of the Presiding Judges of the International Criminal Tribunal on former Yugoslavia.
Foreign Minister Frendo also had the opportunity to sit in briefly for parts of the trial of the former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and in another trial over which Judge Agius was presiding.
Foreign Minister Frendo also participated, in the closing session of a strategy seminar organised by Malta Enterprise and hosted by the Embassy of Malta in the Netherlands, entitled ‘Strategy Meeting for the Benelux Countries’. Participants in the seminar included Malta’s Honorary Consuls for the Netherlands and Belgium and Malta Enterprise Multiplier officers in the region.
See also:
The Netherlands assists Malta in refugee resettlement
By MaltaMedia News
Dec 1, 2005, 15:30 CET
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