Labour’s MEP election candidate Clint Flores is following in Cyrus Engerer’s footsteps and turning Ukraine into a populist issue about EU funds supposedly meant for Malta. After billions of euros in pandemic relief by the European Union and more billions of Euros in liquidity and public-debt buying by the ECB, Maltese Labour MPs are conjuring a position about the unfairness of, allegedly, the EU’s diversion of European Union funds to Ukraine’s war effort.
It is not really the case that the EU is diverting away funds entitled to Southern European member states to Ukraine. Expect Russia to exploit this issue with a lot of disinformation and propaganda as it has done in many EU states in their support of Ukraine. The populist message is that the EU is diverting funds for a proxy war of the US against Russia instead of saving the lives of poor Europeans.
Loans from the European Stability Mechanism were meant to be phased out slowly as the Covid crisis ended and contrary to what Clint Flores is saying the European Peace Facility is not taking away any funds which were originally meant for Malta or Italy. The priorities of the European Peace Facility will obviously change according to the current geopolitical priorities in Europe of the time and Malta is also part of Europe and the EU. Labour MEPs are taking the village mentality to the EU as they promote the idea to their constituents that Malta is in the EU exclusively to obtain money. This is a very similar attitude Malta is taking with the immigration crisis where Malta refuses to do its part in strengthening its own borders and executing rescue missions while at the same time blaming the EU for a lack of solidarity. Yet, Labour MPs are so unfit for purpose, wreckless and irresponsible and totally incompetent that one of the first things Foreign Minister, Evarist Bartolo did when he entered office was to outsource our maritime border security with Libya to the Turkish Navy. How do you expect anyone in power abroad to take us seriously?
Now, the problem with this kind of attitude is that it very much appeals to an illiterate audience who may think that having a myopic foreign policy Labour is strongly fighting for the national interest. Hurrah. The reality in Brussels is different as this kind of attitude isolates you from the adults in the room. Thanks to Labour’s antics we are not considered serious, neither do we have any bargaining power, we actually have none and instead we alienate everyone else and end up without friends in a room filled with political alliances and common interests.
I am not arguing that Malta should not fight for its national interest, everyone does, but being part of the EU also means you are part of a bigger club that has to work for common aims and Malta is completely indifferent and oblivious to such common goals. In the rooms of international European power, this is how we eventually end up being marginalised along with delinquent states such as Hungary. Are we proud that we have this stance which makes the EU and other member-states view us as the delinquent member-state that is always nagging about money but is not participative and conducive to struggle for common goals?
There is another thing to consider. Malt has a big problem with its ever-soaring debt load and it was recently reported that Malta was using EU funds intended for capital investment to instead fund recurrent expenditure. Clearly, the Maltese government has a big challenge to meet its obligations as it strives to keep the deficit down, so it may be expected that the Labour Party will now be blaming external factors such as the war in Ukraine for its ever-increasing financial challenges.
For additional context, those who are writing to me to tell me that Clint Flores is a “progressive” is wrong. Flores is just like any other political opportunist and will do anything to advance himself in his political career. Here he is posting pictures with King Joseph Muscat to remind Labour voters that he still cherishes the memory of Malta’s most corrupt politician in history.
Website Editor
Historian and Publisher
Leave a Reply