Prime Minister Joseph Muscat yesterday told Parliament that, regarding Ukraine, Malta was not part of the hawkish group which wanted drastic action, or the other group which advocated caution because of their dependence on Russia for their supply of gas.
Dr Muscat said Malta was part of the group that agreed with sanctions against Russia on three levels, the last being economic. Malta had already made its assessment of the impact on Malta of these economic sanctions.
Earlier, Dr Muscat said his adviser on EU affairs and Eastern Europe, Robert van der Vert, had resigned as a consultant to Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov and not to President Viktor Yanukovych after the Vilnius summit when the latter failed to sign the association agreement with the EU.
There had been a reluctance to impose economic sanctions on Russia
Mr van der Vert had felt that he had failed in his mission to get Ukraine closer to the EU.
On migration, Dr Muscat said that during the last 11 months, over 500 irregular immigrants had been relocated – far more than the number over the previous five years.
Answering Opposition questions after a statement on the conclusion of the European summit, Dr Muscat said at present there were about one thousand others who could be relocated, adding that during the EU meeting with African states, Malta and Italy would emphasise this point.
Turing to state aid to industry, Dr Muscat said the government’s industrial policy was to give priority to firms facing difficulties, so as to strengthen them and prevent them from going bankrupt.
Opposition leader Simon Busuttil joined the government in its condemnation of Russia following the annexation of Crimea and asked what were the “additional” sanctions mentioned during the summit.
He also observed that the summit conclusions did not say anything on what the Prime Minister had harped upon about irregular immigration. Dr Muscat did not achieve any concrete results.
When it came to energy, the talks focused on the internal connections in the Iberian Peninsula, as there was an internal market but no connections with the rest of Europe.
The argument was that so much had been invested in internal connectivity that other connections could not be afforded. The EU had been asked for help on this, so that its member states could benefit from cheaper energy from there, and become less dependent on Russia.
Foreign Minister George Vella said there had been a reluctance to impose economic sanctions on Russia, as trade connections with that country were considerable.
The first conclusions said that if Russia did not de-escalate its actions, the EU’s reaction would have to be stepped up, but at the time the annexing of Crimea had not yet happened.
Regarding whether Malta could be a catalyst, Dr Vella said this was a dream, but within its small role it could do its part by saying what it had to say, even if this went against the grain. It was common to find other countries agreeing with Malta, he said.
Dr Vella said though not directly impacted, Malta should express its concerns about the threat to stability if more countries with a Russian majority were targeted by Russia.
The Moldovan Foreign Minister would be visiting Malta in the coming days and concerns could be shared, he said.
It was clear that Crimea would not return to the Ukraine, he said, but the question on everyone’s lips was whether things stopped here. Someone had to show Russia that history would not repeat itself.