Malta's application to re-join Nato's Partnership for Peace programme (PfP) is expected to be given the green light tomorrow by the 23 heads of state and government of the alliance meeting during a three-day summit starting today in Bucharest, Romania.
Malta is closely watching the developments on its application and has also sent officials to follow the meeting and carry out the necessary lobbying.
Nato sources in Brussels, seat of the alliance's headquarters, yesterday told The Times that the decision on Malta's application will most probably be taken during a discussion of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC).
"Malta's application is on the agenda and a decision should be made on Thursday. Nato welcomes Malta's application and there is no reason why the island's re-activation of membership into PfP should be considered as a problem. On the contrary, Nato is looking very positively at welcoming Malta's participation in the PfP," the sources said.
Nato's Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council was set up in 1997 and provides the overall political framework for Nato's cooperation with partner countries and the bilateral relationships developed between Nato and individual partner countries with the PfP programme. Malta had joined the PfP in 1995 and withdrew a year later when Labour was elected to government in 1996. Following the last general election, the government re-applied to join the programme, amid harsh criticism that it had not consulted the opposition.
The decision of the EAPC, made up of 26 Nato member countries and 23 partner countries, will have to be followed by bilateral meetings between Malta and Nato in order to re-draw a framework document specifying Malta's commitments when it comes to PfP participation.
"Partner countries normally choose individual activities based on their ambitions and abilities," the sources explained. "These are put forward to Nato and developed jointly with the partner country concerned. In Malta's case, these negotiations should be easy and rapid as Malta already had a similar agreement when it was a member of the PfP in 1995."
Malta's decision to rejoin the PfP was mainly based on political, and not military, considerations. Since its accession to the EU in May 2004, Malta has not been able to participate in regular meetings between the EU and Nato as Turkey, a member of Nato but not of the EU, objected to the presence of non-PfP members Malta and Cyprus when certain classified information was being discussed.
Currently all EU countries, apart from Malta and Cyprus, are either Nato or PfP members. According to EU sources, through its membership of the PfP, Malta will now solve this impasse.
The PfP currently has 23 members, including Russia and Switzerland.