UN General Assembly
1997

of active, site-specific neutrality enables it effectively to promote stability and understanding across the Euro- Mediterranean region. Moreover, this status of neutrality will continue to serve Malta's self-interests precisely because it will also serve the best interests of the European Union member States and of our Mediterranean neighbours. 6 For Malta, the Mediterranean has been and continues to be an integral element in our national development programme. Malta's active participation in international and regional forums is perhaps best described as an extension of its cooperative security philosophy. The Mediterranean is a microcosm of today's multipolar world. The region epitomizes many of the problems associated with the North-South debate. These include maritime safety, maritime pollution, illegal migration, terrorism and weapons proliferation. Malta is particularly concerned at the ever-widening demographic gap and the ever-widening economic disparities in the Mediterranean region between the affluent North and the underdeveloped South. Poverty, combined with a lack of job opportunities and deteriorating living conditions, is fueling extremist tensions throughout the Mediterranean. Malta lies at the crossroads of the Mediterranean and