Editorial

Despite the high-handed manner in which the government re-activated Malta's application to join the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme a year ago, the benefits of the programme will now begin to be felt.

Whatever reservations one may have had about the manner of Malta's entry, only the most blinkered would not see the potential benefits that should now begin to accrue to Malta's armed forces and to its diplomatic position within the councils of the European Union when EU-Nato security matters are under discussion. It would therefore be invidious to hark back to that false start now.

Instead, one should look ahead to how Malta's presence in PfP might help the country's own diplomatic and military cause.

Malta's Individual Partnership Programme (IPP), as it is termed because it is individually tailored to suit the island's own needs, has been agreed by Nato. This details in practical ways how Malta will participate in PfP. Given Malta's position as a neutral country - alongside other EU countries such as Sweden, Austria, Finland and Ireland - the focus of its PfP is bound to be on humanitarian assistance, search and rescue and, possibly, peace-keeping activities.

Most importantly, the Armed Forces of Malta will be able to participate in PfP training exercises and other military-to-military exchanges and secondments with other PfP countries on a bilateral basis. These will be of considerable benefit to the Maltese armed forces whose professionalism will thereby be broadened. No doubt, the Maltese people will be proud to know they have good and dedicated officers and soldiers within the AFM. However, their standards would only atrophy - as, indeed, had happened 30 years ago - if the active personnel did not have the opportunity from time to time to undergo military training alongside other professional forces. Joining PfP is a key step towards raising and maintaining standards.

The second benefit is more difficult to quantify. It comes from the involvement of Malta at the diplomatic top table in discussions on European security and defence matters, an involvement that the new US Administration has welcomed. Malta will be privy to these as a result of joining PfP. Prior to joining, Malta was unable to participate in regular meetings between the EU and Nato when certain classified security information was being discussed, even if this could have reached the island through other sources. Now it can have its say too.

While it is likely that Malta's previous exclusion was due to Turkey's objections against Cyprus (with whom it had fallen out), the fact remains that re-joining PfP now makes access to such information possible. The diplomatic contacts thus developed, together with Malta's long-standing involvement in the Organisation for Cooperation and Security in Europe, can only be positive given the endemic instability of today's world.

Malta threatens nobody and it is not under threat. But as a small, vulnerable, neutral and non-aligned country placed in the midst of a turbulent sea it is dependent for its security in an uncertain world on fostering international friendship and cooperation with everybody. To achieve this it has to project soft power, however limited, by every diplomatic means at its disposal. Joining the EU was a pivotal step in achieving long-term security. Re-joining PfP is a logical and necessary development in that process whose benefits are only just beginning.