Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that the situation in Turkey could potentially result in a big mess when it comes to refugees.

Dr Muscat was being interviewed by Andrew Azzopardi on his radio programme Ghandi xi nghid.

The EU recently struck a deal with Turkey, where any refugees arriving in Greece can expect to be sent back to Turkey if they do not apply for asylum or if their claim is rejected.

Dr Muscat said that if Turkish refugees start coming to Europe and are granted asylum, then would refugees from other countries still be sent back to Turkey? “There is going to be a big mess.”

Dr Muscat explained that in his opinion: “what happened in Turkey was not a revolution. There was a group of people within the Armed Forces who believed the government in Turkey, which was democratically elected, should be removed and the Armed Forces should take over. I was in Mongolia with almost all EU heads at the time. We discussed this point and we decided that we couldn’t send a signal to a country wanting to enter the EU that we accept the Army taking over”.

 

“As for what happened afterwards, that is another question altogether. EU leaders said that we understood the arrest of the generals who tried to take over, but we cannot accept the introduction of the death penalty, or using the coup attempt as an excuse for removing teachers, heads of university etc. We used the word restraint. The fact that Turkey suspended the EU human rights convention is problematic. I spoke with the EU Commissioner for the Enlargement and Neighbourhood policy and we agreed that if Turkey introduces the death penalty, talks with Turkey to enter the EU will stop immediately, and not for any sort of political reason, but because they would be in breach of fundamental regulations”.

“The most important thing is for serious political discussions with Turkey to take place”.

Dr Muscat addressed an array of issues during the interview, including Malta’s traffic problems, and the issue of drink-driving.

He mentioned the idea of a monorail, and said that if built, people would end up with a train passing by their windows.

“Right now there is a strategic document that everyone ignored. It’s a consultation document on transport strategies, where a number of proposals have been made. There are a few I personally don’t agree with but they are there for consultation. I urge people to see and read them”.

He spoke about water transport, and said that such ferry transport between the South and Valletta is being used well, “and I believe we should add onto it”.

“We are also not excluding the idea of an underground system. We would need to see private involvement in this”. He said that for such a project, which would be in the service of general economic interest, Malta could benefit from EU funds.

Another alternative to help solve the traffic management issue, which he doesn’t agree with, is to increase licence fees and make it harder for people to buy cars.

The Prime Minister also said that he is worried about the amount of traffic accidents, and asked for an analysis of the fines relating to traffic violations, especially for those driving under the influence. “It is a very irresponsible act to drive under the influence. I think we might need to be draconian in this area”.

“We need to be clear, You only need to make one mistake, and drive under the influence once to ruin another family’s life. I ordered a review of these fines”.

He said that abroad, people could lose their licence for a year if they are caught drink-driving. “This could change their lifestyle completely and some could even lose their jobs”.

He mentioned the need for more enforcement and fines for alcohol sold to under-aged persons.

Dr Muscat also announced that Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech is looking into ways to create a number of budgetary measures to reduce poverty. Referring to the Caritas report, he said that the price of food rose by 16% over the past four years. He said that poverty was being tackled and it was in decline.

“You can't really do anything to control this, as it is an open market. There are local and foreign regulations in this sector. What we can do is ensure that there is no abuse, and this is something that the authorities must be careful of. Another negative the report found regards rents. I asked Caritas and those who drafted the report, to present their report before the Cabinet. They told me that four years ago, people would come to us complaining about energy costs, now today they come complaining about rent prices."

Turning to the Air Malta-Alitalia talks, he said that Alitalia was in a bad position a few years ago, but began to improve once it was taken over from Etihad. He stressed that Air Malta will remain Maltese. Analysis of certain proposals are underway and "if we see we can agree, we will move ahead; if not, we will look elsewhere”.

“The indications are that hard and serious negotiations are ongoing. Once we arrive at our final analysis, both sides will decide whether they want to keep going”. He said that he doesn’t believe this will take many months, “but I will not be held hostage by giving a timeframe”.

“The people who are leading the negotiations have my trust. When it comes to taking a decision we will take the best decision in Malta’s interest”.

Turning to the unions, he said that there was a similar worry when there was the Enemalta-Shanghai Electric deal. “This is a question of stakeholder management. When one makes a step in such a direction, people fear the uncertainty of change. I believe the majority of people now know the Shanghai Electric deal was a good one and from a company”.

“I have no problem with ALPA standing up for pilots. I am there to defend Air Malta and the country. It is not true that we issued an injunction for no industrial action to take place. We filed the injunction for disproportionate industrial action not to take place. What we are saying is, use industrial action, but do so proportionately. If you are asking for an increase in pay, file a protest, but if you are going to strike for one or two days which will end up bankrupting the company, you will lose your own job, lose the jobs of all those who work at Air Malta, and result in hotels and restaurants taking a hit”.

Photos of interview Karl Azzopardi