2017 EU presidency earns Borg place in Forbes’s ‘under-30’ list

Young Ian Borg, 29 – the former Dingli mayor elected to parliament in 2013 – has made the Forbes list of ‘30 Under 30’ policy-makers as he gets closer to the 2017 presidency of the European Council.

Borg is parliamentary secretary in the ministry for EU affairs, and handles the EU funds’ portfolio and preparations for the 2017 presidency of the European Council, Malta’s first ever stab at the rotating presidency.

Every one of the accomplished leaders in Forbes’s ‘30 Under 30’ was personally vetted by a blue-ribbon panel of experts in their fields, namely: Politico Europe’s executive editor Matthew Kaminski, formerly of the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times and the Economist; Historian and professor Fabrice d’Almeida, and Italian politics expert Professor Roberto D’Alimonte.

“Our Policy class represents one of the most diverse groups of nationalities among our 10 lists. We have honorees from 15 countries — several of whom hold positions within the European Parliament, which comprises the 28 member countries of the European Union and represents the diversity in valuable contributions among EU members,” Forbes says.

The youngest list member, 22-year-old Italian Jacopo Mele, is the cofounder and president of Homo Ex Machina and is viewed as an expert on environmental and social issues. He has appeared on national TV and has been a consultant to half-a-billion dollar companies.

Others include Lassana Bathily, the 25-year-old who is credited with saving the lives of several hostages in the Paris market two days after the Charlie Hebdo attack. He later received French citizenship for his heroic actions and has since gone on to write a book (titled “I Am Not a Hero”) and continued activism through his eponymous organization.