Prime Minister Joseph Muscat today warned that if Malta were to pull the plug on Greece “we will never get the money we lent it back”.

Dr Muscat is off to Brussels for a meeting which aims to discuss Greece’s third bail-out request.

“Strangely enough the Greeks came up with the same proposals which it refused a week and the half ago. The Greek Prime Minister has to answer to his sudden change in stance. The economic situation worsened so much in a matter of weeks that the bail-out the Greeks requested a week-and-the-half ago may not be enough today,” Dr Muscat explained.

Speaking on One radio, he emphasised that Malta will continue to insist Greece pays its debts but said that Greece needed to engage in certain reforms. In a bid to explain what may have led to Greece’s financial problems, he said that certain sectors were exempt from tax while the duopolies and monopolies which were created “choked” competition.

“These are the reforms that need to be done. If Greece requests more funds, it is the ESM which will lend it money and not other EU countries as was the case until some time ago.

“But Greece did not live up to its promises that it would engage in a pension reform, and put into place its energy system. The new Greek government is blaming the previous administration for not having lived up to the EU’s expectations,” he said.

“But despite all this, if we were to pull the plug on Greece and their banks close down, we will never retrieve our funds,” he said. "It's as bad as having a sick patient who owes you money and shutting down his life-support," he said.

"We need a solution, but not a solution at any price," he said on Malta's position.

MEPA demerger: ‘PN voted against NGOs wishes’

Dr Muscat said that MEPA’s demerger is something the people voted strongly for during the last election which will see MEPA divided into two – the planning authority and environment authority.

“The reason why we did this is to strengthen the environment,” Dr Muscat said.

“What I cannot understand,” he continued, is why the Opposition voted against the wishes of environmental NGOs when it voted against a set of amendments which were based on the views of NGOs. He was referring to a parliamentary session which lasted untill 3 a.m. earlier this week after the PN kept calling a division each time a vote for an amendment took place tied to the SPED law.

Dr Muscat explained that the structure plan for the Maltese islands, known as the Strategic Plan for the Environment and Development (SPED), had not been updated since 1992. “The world has changed; you cannot use a typewriter to log in to the internet, can you? Dr Muscat asked, referring to the fact that the structure plan was in dire need of being updated to be able to cater with today’s needs.

“We presented our plan and were criticised by environment NGOs. We met up with them and they shared their views. We took a number of their points on board and included them in the new structure to help strengthen it.

“We expected the Opposition to agree with the views of NGOs and not vote against what the NGOs asked for. The PN opposed a number of clauses, including having voted against the fact that historic buildings are restored and used for other purposes,” he lamented.

MOU with world leading communications company Huawei; Muscat thanks Sai Mizzi

Dr Muscat announced that an Memorandum of Understanding will be signed tomorrow which will see Huawei - a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider test 5G in Malta.

China-based Huawei is to open an office in Malta which will be inaugurated tomorrow.

Dr Muscat said that this is one of Sai Mizzi’s (Malta’s special envoy for China and the wife of Energy and Health Minister Konrad Mizzi) achievements. He thanked Mrs Mizzi, Ernst and Young and Parliamentary Secretary Jose Herrera for their efforts.

Citing an example of how 5G works, he said that you can regulate your home appliances by using your mobile phone for instance.

Standard & Poor’s report on Malta

On Standard & Poor’s economic report on Malta, Dr Muscat said that “we are a government which takes decisions and this is the reason why Malta has achieved results economically.

“If we did the same as the previous government and shied away from taking decisions, we would not have achieved such results. We are a pro-business government and will remain one. We represent the Labour Party – the party which represents workers,” he continued.