Malta's neutrality

The activation of Malta's membership of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) has rekindled a debate on Malta's neutrality and the relevant provisions in our Constitution.

Malta has been, constitutionally speaking, a neutral country since 1987.

Our Constitution defines our neutral status as one where we can actively pursue peace, security and social progress among all nations by adhering to a policy of non-alignment and refusing to participate in any military alliance. Both parties represented in Parliament agree on this.

Way back in 2004, I had spoken in Parliament about our political neutrality. I believed, and still do, that Malta's neutrality has given and gives our country that much-needed credibility among neighbouring states in this troubled region.

Malta's neutrality is a beacon of logic and wisdom.

However, in that 2004 speech, I had pointed out that our Constitution must be amended to reflect precisely where neutral Malta stands today. Article 1 of our Constitution still speaks about the non-alignment movement and also of the denial of access of "military vessels of the two superpowers" in our shipyards.

One doesn't need to be a lecturer in public international law to decipher the anachronism blaring out of our magna carta. The highest law in our land is still mired in Cold War terminology. Modern and European Malta cannot pride itself in this regard, I opined, of having a very avant-garde Constitution.

That is why I believe still that article 1 of our Constitution needs to reflect modern realpolitik. How come we still speak of neutrality in terms of military threats as if it were the only type of threat our nation can face?

What about economic or environmental threats? I genuinely believe that in today's world we have more to fear from the latter type of threats than from military ones.

All it takes for our tourism industry to flounder and perish is for a major spill by an oil tanker in the Malta-Sicily strait, keeping in mind that 90 per cent of all Mediterranean sea traffic passes between Malta and Sicily. Incidentally, this is an area which should really terrify us, rather than the "two superpowers". It has always perturbed me why the Mediterranean Sea-traffic shouldn't pass by Malta from the south rather than from the north. Of course, Malta must remain at the forefront, working in favour of peace and security in this mare nostrum. We should be the bridge builders the late John Paul II exhorted us to be, striving for the real peace. Peace that is not merely the absence of strife but the peace this region needs: mutual trust and confidence building, keeping in mind that climatic and economic woes bedevil the Mediterranean states in an unprecedented manner.

Our society needs to wake up from its slumber and debate the revising and updating of our Constitution. NGOs, civil society and John Citizen have a duty to make their voice heard.

Neutrality is not, and should not be, the sole domain of the political parties.

A relevant Constitution is an essential cornerstone of a relevant, modern and European Malta.

Dr Azzopardi is Parliamentary Secretary at the Ministry of Finance, the Economy and Investment.

jason.azzopardi@gov.mt