Malta’s strategic position at the southern border of the European Union is cause for great concern in the current political turmoil in the Mediterranean.
The great ease with which two Libyan Mirages landed at our airport without notice shows the danger we are in. So it is about time Malta considers its defence requirements.
We definitely need protection against any potential foreign aggression. The time of neutrality from the superpowers is long past.
The time has come for our country to join a military alliance in its own interest. We are unable to take care of our defence, and a hostile country can occupy the islands in a matter of minutes.
If we speak about neutrality in the terms used by our Constitution, there are two powers in our time: the Western democracies and the forces of extremism and terrorism. We cannot afford to be neutral in the circumstances.
We certainly should not be neutral in the Libyan crisis, where a ruthless regime is crushing its own people to enable its leader and his family to hold on to power after 42 years. One cannot stay neutral in the Syrian situation, where a family clan is brutally crushing dissent and killing its own people. To stay neutral is to close your eyes in the face of these crimes against humanity.
Can one stay neutral in the fight against terrorism? Can one turn a blind eye to the millions of people around the world being senselessly killed for no reason? Can a country refuse to help in this war against terror?
Malta has much to lose if we retain this perspective in world affairs. We cannot expect protection from the Western powers if we do not do our part and be part of their endeavour against this evil.
It is scandalous for a high-profile Maltese and EU citizen to be probably the only person in the democratic world still defending Libya’s brutal regime. The brutal siege of Misurata is one example of its inhumanity.
To add insult to injury, after visiting Tripoli, which is still firmly in the regime’s hands, he invited Maltese workers to return to western Libya as it is ‘safe’. Such statements harm our country’s image as a member of the free and democratic world.
The time has come for Malta to reconsider its position and truly take a stand as part of the democratic world. It is evil to stay neutral in the face of evil.