I refer to Louis Cilia's letter The Resolution On Abortion (April 21).

Whatever the Council of Europe determines or tries to impose on us, we should discard it, if it is a matter of major national importance and we do not agree with it or refuse to implement it.

There is no need to give factual or moral reasons to support the principle that abortion is murder, from the beginning of conception, if it is interrupted in any way.

I have always held that on major national principles and matters, the last word should be ours, and ours alone. Our interests are foremost and nobody else's business.

This principle has been followed by Germany, when it declared that its banks cannot be taken over by a foreign country; by France, Italy and Spain when they declined to accept a European Commission imposition to take measures to reduce to three per cent the debt related to the GNP, stating that national interests come first.

Being a member of the European Union does not mean that Malta should surrender its national policy in determining what national interests dictate or demand.