Basseterre, St. Kitts, December 22, 2015 (SKNIS): Establishing diplomatic relations with members of the community of nations represents a featured and extremely pivotal aspect of the mandate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), said the Honourable Mark Brantley, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Aviation.
During the 2016 Budget debate, the foreign minister said that “this practice should not be taken lightly as it provides formal inroads to forging deeper ties and developing friendships with partners and supporters of our interests.” This, he said, explains the ministry’s feverish quest to finalize waiver agreements.
“I wish to share that the allocations committed to the ministry during the current fiscal year were expended across the ministry to implement and coordinate foreign policy, build capacity, administer services pertaining to diplomatic relations and civil aviation and provide technical advice and support to ensure compliance with international civil aviation standards,” said Minister Brantley.
Prime Minister, Dr. the Honourable Timothy Harris, during the 2016 Budget address said that “one of the priorities of the ministry is to increase diplomatic relations with as many Member States of the United Nations (UN) as possible”
The foreign minister outlined steps the ministry has taken to interact with and further foster relations.
“We have embarked upon a programme that would afford more regular interface with representatives of other countries located in St. Kitts and Nevis,” he said. “During the first few weeks of assumption of foreign minister, I made it a point Mr Deputy Speaker to introduce myself personally to the heads of missions of Venezuela, Brazil, Cuba and the Republic of China (Taiwan). The Ambassador of Taiwan was later recalled but face to face encounters are important from the outset.”
He explained, that his aim was to have the emissaries of the countries in the Federation understand that MOFA will continue to facilitate their tenure in service of their respective countries. Minister Brantley is adamant that he sent a clear message that the Government of National Unity values their friendship and noted that in his first official rendezvous with them he needed to assure them of St. Kitts and Nevis’ unwavering commitment to deepening that relationship.
“We have also, quite recently facilitated the visit of the President of Venezuela, his Excellency Nicholas Maduro, in which our ministry played a critical role and we feel that that was another success as the Team Unity Government was yet able to deliver another commitment,” he stated, while adding that the ministry also met with the local Consular Corps to strengthen the bonds. “We have also looked at forging new alliances with places like Morocco, Senegal and other African countries to expand the global footprint of St. Kitts and Nevis.
To date, St. Kitts and Nevis has diplomatic relations with close to 100 countries, some of which include Ireland, Japan, The United Arab Emirates, the Democratic Republic of Algeria, Cuba, the Republic of China (Taiwan), United States of America, Canada, United Kingdom and France to name a few. The most recent one is Ukraine, which gained diplomatic ties in 2015.
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