The French ambassador to Malta Jean-Marc Rives has defended his government’s plans for furthering nuclear talks with Libya on the prospect of developing nuclear energy for the production of water, saying France will commit itself to a transparent process.
Months after the French deal to share nuclear technology with Libya, in which Rives shied away from questions by the Maltese press, the ambassador addressed a parliamentary committee for foreign affairs, defending Libya as a country which has changed and which “today is not what it was yesterday”.
The memorandum on nuclear technology for desalination purposes was signed as French president Nicolas Sarkozy held talks with Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in August just after Tripoli freed six foreign medics. France played a key role, along with EU officials, in securing their release.
The deal sparked safety concerns in Malta, while French critics decried Sarkozy’s endorsement of an undemocratic state which in the past sponsored international terrorism and whose human rights record is regarded as dismal by human rights watchdogs.
Answering question by shadow foreign minister Leo Brincat, Rives said France had acknowledged Libya’s conversion with a memorandum of understanding. “It is not to provide a nuclear reactor to Libya, but a framework for cooperation between Libya and France.”
He said there was no reason why developing countries, including Libya and Iran, should not be entitled to use nuclear energy. “We want, very much, this country to have a right to develop, and have access to producing water and electricity (with nuclear energy) when the price of oil is increasing – we don’t want to create injustice. I think this is the very spirit of the Mediterranean Union. We want something which unites, not divides.”
While acknowledging that “people don’t like nuclear energy”, he insisted it was the cheapest and most reliable form of energy, as well as the least polluting. “The fact is this: France has relied on nuclear energy for ages. We have a very reliable technology far away from the apocalyptic spectre of Chernobyl. Everything must be done slowly, transparently, and in adherence of the strict rules imposed by the international system of non-proliferation…. France is part of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and so is Libya, and the IAEA’s latest report on Libya has been very satisfactory.”