Lost neutrality

There seems little point to Evarist Saliba (April 26) getting worked up about Malta's neutrality.

Like Southern Ireland, another country in the European Union which is sensitive about its neutrality, by joining the EU Malta has lost it.

The EU is rapidly becoming a nation in its own right. Malta has already voted to ratify the Lisbon Treaty which is the EU Constitution by another name, and by doing so the Maltese government has given the EU the means to acquire all the trappings of a nation in its own right.

When the Lisbon Treaty is fully enacted the EU will have given itself: a legal personality, a constitution (although it will not admit it), its laws will override those of its member nations. It will also have, in the shape of the Euro Gendarmerie, a military police force with the authority to operate in any member nation.

The EU will increasingly take control of law making and it will have its own President (possibly Tony Blair) and foreign minister who will decide foreign policy for Malta and all other EU nations. Most importantly for Malta's neutrality, the EU will have its own army which it will send anywhere in the world it deems.

Debating Malta's once proud neutrality is a pointless exercise - when you voted to join the EU you also voted away your independence.