Live: Richard Cachia Caruana faces Foreign Affairs Committee

Malta’s representative to the EU, Ambassador Richard Cachia Caruana is this evening being questioned by Parliament’s Foreign and EU Affairs Committee as part of the debate on an Opposition motion calling for his resignation.

The Opposition claims Mr Cachia Caruana conspired with other countries to circumvent Parliament for Malta’s return to Nato's Partnership for Peace.

The Opposition has based its claims on a document released by Wikileaks referring to meetings in 2004. But the government says the meetings had nothing to do with PfP and were about ways how Malta could have access to Nato-EU security documents and meetings. 

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the first witness to face the committee, has defended Mr Cachia Caruana’s work, saying it was in the national interest and nowhere close to treason as the Opposition was suggesting.

Dr Gonzi insisted that PfP membership was not considered by the government at the time, and Malta only rejoined the programme after the 2008 elections when the talks on access to the security documents and meetings failed.  

Mr Cachia Caruana is a long standing political figure in Malta. He managed several PN election campaigns, served as former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami’s chief of staff and was Malta’s chief negotiator on EU membership. However, he has always kept a relatively low public profile. 

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