Brussels, 06/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Malta has made a formal request to the German Presidency to launch ministerial dialogue between the European Union and the Arab League. Malta's foreign minister Michael Frendo has sent a letter to German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier suggesting joint organisation with the Arab League of a meeting of EU and Arab foreign ministers. 'I believe that this meeting would be an important statement to further the politics of moderation as opposed to the politics of extremism and divisiveness,' explains Frendo in the letter. He hopes a meeting could be organised before the end of June. This idea was mooted by Malta, which in the past contacted the Finnish Presidency to try and get it to establish structured dialogue between EU and Arab League foreign ministers (see EUROPE 9308 and 8350). Malta's idea was recently backed by foreign ministers in Mediterranean EU Member States. After a meeting of ministers in La Valette on 2 February, Frendo said that his initiative had been 'very positively considered'. The meeting in La Valette was attended by ministers from France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus and Slovenia, under the aegis of Malta. They discussed issues like illegal immigration, climate change, energy security and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It was the third such meeting. Diplomatic sources told Europe that all the countries present apart from France had called for the holding of dialogue with Syria. (bc)