Malta should continue to be prudent, serving as a Mediterranean hub and keeping its security as the utmost priority, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said this morning.
Interviewed on One by journalist Charmaine Craus, Dr Muscat said that there seemed to be a consensus in Malta on the country’s foreign policy.
Both the Prime Minister and himself, Dr Muscat said, had declared independently of one another, that Malta should not serve as a military base.
Malta’s aspirations were not of a military nature and while the country had a duty to follow UN resolutions, it did not have aspirations to serve as a military base. It seems this was also the Prime Minister’s position.
If anything, Dr Muscat said, Malta should serve as a humanitarian hub. All those in need should be able to find their assistance in Malta. It should be the country which helped the Libyan people.
The opposition leader said the people seemed to be appreciating more the need to be prudent.
“We have to keep in mind our size and historic mission and it is better, at this point, to say less rather than more. Our security has to be our utmost priority. We have been prudent and we will continue to be so.”
Dr Muscat said that while workers and investors could not be left to fend on their own, one could not expect the government to be Big Brother.
Because of what was happening in Libya, the Labour leader said, this generation was experiencing for the first time the value of peace, how better it was to live in a peaceful zone rather than in a zone that was under conflict.
Malta, he said, was right to offer its help to countries to help evacuate their people from Libya when the uprising started and the opposition had supported the government in this.
However, if in the coming days there would be an influx of illegal migration from North Africa, he expected the solidarity shown by Malta to be reciprocated by the other EU countries.
The European Socialists had understood this and had presented a non-binding resolution to make this obligatory. The resolution had, however, been changed by the European Peoples’ Party.
Dr Muscat also explained the position the Labour Party had taken on divorce and said that Labour MPs were to present a motion in Parliament in the coming days aimed at strengthening the family.
The motion, he said, will show that the Labour Party wants to take the necessary steps to place the family on solid ground.
Dr Muscat said that the divorce referendum was a tough one and it would be very difficult for the people to say yes for divorce. Everyone should vote according to their conscience and whatever the result, he said, he would be respecting it.
The Labour leader said he expected an honest and clean campaign and said that contrary to what some were saying, divorce had nothing to do with abortion. He pointed out that responsible divorce will not increase problems but uncover them.
The PL, he said, was against abortion and those who tried to give a different impression were trying to deceive.