As a Maltese, I should be offended by the remarks of the Slovakian General Prosecutor Jaromir Ciznar following the murder of the journalist Jan Kuciak and his girlfriend. His comment that Slovakia “is neither Malta nor Russia”, meaning that in Slovakia any crime committed by whoever will not go unpunished, left me with a bitter taste.

However, on reflection, he is right. In Slovakia, the culture minister resigned a few days after the murder of Kuciak and his fiancée, saying he could not remain in office when his portfolio also embraced the media.

He could not live with a journalist being assassinated on his watch. The home affairs minister stepped down too, assuming political responsibility that the police, for which he was politically responsible, could not safeguard the life of a journalist. The two resignations were followed by that of the prime minister, Robert Fico. Their resignations did not imply they were directly responsible for the murder but all accepted the fact that, in a functioning democracy, they had to assume political responsibility.

Furthermore, the Slovakian people, in their thousands, took to the streets demanding the resignation of the prime minister and his coalition government (photo).

Here, not only no minister resigns but, soon after Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat went abroad peddling the sale of passports at Henley & Partners’ roadshows. His message was that the show must go on, displaying utter callousness and proving he and his government had no concept of what political responsibility entails in a proper functioning democracy.

So, yes, there is a gulf between Malta and Slovakia and the Slovakians are justified in not wanting their country to be compared to Malta. That bitter truth hurts but has to be accepted by us Maltese as being the result of turning a blind eye to government corruption.