Gozo Minister Clint Camilleri’s sister Francesca Camilleri Vettiger has been made Malta’s Permanent Representative, or ambassador, to the Council of Europe.

The young lawyer – still in her early 30s and with little hands-on diplomatic experience – will be living permanently in Strasbourg, France with her Swiss husband working close by.

Sources at the Foreign Affairs Ministry have informed The Shift that senior diplomats have complained about what they are labelling “nepotism” on the part of Foreign Minister Ian Borg, who they say gave his Cabinet colleague’s sister a “cosy and convenient job” at the expense of more seasoned diplomats.

They say she had already been well taken care of by the government when she was placed on the state payroll a few years ago and posted abroad close to where her husband works.

The position of a permanent representative, apart from the nomenclature, is the same as that of an ambassador and comes with the same perks – residential premises, vehicle and transport and domestic help, among others.

While she is not considered to form part of the diplomatic service, Camilleri Vettiger was put on the state payroll in 2017 as part of the government’s recruitment process for Malta’s six-month rotating European Union presidency.

At the time she had been posted to Malta’s mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland, her then-boyfriend’s native country.

Shortly thereafter, Camilleri Vettiger joined the general civil service and was immediately posted to Malta’s Permanent Representation to the Council of Europe in Strasbourg just a few kilometres from her now husband’s place of work.

After a vacancy recently cropped up at the permanent representation in Strasbourg, Minister Borg promoted Minister Camilleri’s sister to the role, where she will be assured of at least another four years in the French city just north of her husband’s hometown of Basel.

The position of Malta’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe is a sensitive and challenging one given successive Labour administrations’ often strained relations with the pan-European body – in particular with its Human Rights Commissioner, the Venice Commission and its anti-corruption body GRECO.

Taking to Twitter recently, President George Vella posted a photo of himself and H.E. Francesca Camilleri Vettiger after meeting with the new ambassador.

He said, “Malta attaches great value to the work carried out by the Council and has always sought to be an active member in the Organisation.”