OSCE Chairperson and Malta’s Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg delivered a very supportive speech on the free press during a side conference on media at the OSCE 31st Ministerial Conference yesterday. The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs said that collective action needs to be taken to preserve and support the ever diminishing free press that face both economic challenges and political and legal restrictions on its publications. Foreign Minister Borg added that Malta knows too well the threats to the free press with the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. You can read the full speech here.
The Daphne Caruana Galizia Foundation welcomed the Deputy Prime Minister’s speech, but called for the government to put its words into action after it repeatedly ignored implementing the recommendations of the public inquiry on the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia along with ignoring proposals of the OSCE itself. The OSCE is active in advocating for media freedom among OSCE members and the Deputy Prime Minister thanked the OSCE staff which are conducting this work.
The Maltese government has failed to conduct a wide consultation exercise before pushing its latest press reforms in parliament, apart from having failed to implement the recommendations of the public inquiry on the Daphne’s murder which include the proposals to strengthen regulatory institutions and add new laws such as an “unexplained wealth” law. The public inquiry also urged the authorities to investigate Daphne Caruana Galizia’s reporting and the individuals potentially involved in her assassination, following its conclusion that she was murdered because of her journalism.
This is not the first time that the Deputy Prime Minister has made statements that contrasted with those of the Prime Minister’s or government policy.
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