There is not much to celebrate in Europe at the moment. Europe is sinking fast. As often happens in Malta, the media only reports those aspects of news that politicians want to hear while ignoring the most salient points.
A case in point is the recent presence in Malta of Johannes Hahn, EU Commissioner for Enlargement whose visit was covered in the Press for the wrong reasons. The press reported mainly what Hahn stated about Malta’s readiness for the EU Presidency. However even if Malta were not prepared (which is not the case here), no diplomat in his right senses would say so in public.
Malta's presidency was indeed discussed at a bilateral level during Hahn’s visit but as normally happens in such encounters, the key topicshave remained secret and hidden away from the media and the people. It will be many, many years before the relevant documents pertaining to Hahn's visit will be made available.
This could have been the scenario about Hahn's visit, but what gave the cat away was a seminar organised by the Strickland Foundation in conjunction with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on European Neighbourhood Policy: the Challenges We Face in the South. Besides Hahn, the seminar was addressed by George Vella our Minister for Foreign Affairs, Tonio Borg, the former EU Commissioner and Joseph Cassar, Malta's former Ambassador to Libya. Mark Micallef was the only one to ask questions. The audience was not granted such privilege.
Nonetheless, the most interesting aspect of this event was not the official speeches by Hahn and Vella but their off-the-cuff replies to the questions. It was at this point that inadvertently Hahn's true purpose for being here came out; it had nothing to do with Brexit or its repercussions on Malta or the Southern Neighbourhood Policy as such. Behind the diplomatic talk about the need for a European Neighbourhood Policy for the Mediterranean (the same rhetoric I heard in my student days) there is now a new approach to rely on military strength to resolve what is perceived as a Mediterranean problem.
In simple words, Hahn came here to pave the way for Malta's eventual participation in the new EU Army that Brussels intends creating in response to its internal existential crisis. Judging from the way he talked, the EU wants the setting up of an army to be the main assignment of Maltese presidency.
Hahn confirmed that creating a European Military force has become top priority for Brussels. Hence, irrespective of any past talk about diversity and integration, the EU sees the future as one of a military alliance and a shared army. To give George Vella credit, he did refer to our difficulties because of the neutrality clause in our Constitution. At the same time, it was clear from Vella’s speech that Malta will not put tough opposition to this new venture. No doubt a legal solution will be found to enable Malta to form part of this military set-up and the Opposition will be more than ready, as the presence of Tonio Borg at this talk seems to imply, to support it.
To my pleasant surprise another important detail was revealed regarding international diplomacy and Libya. I wrote a blog on the subject. Minister Vella actually confirmed my stand when I wrote that Libyan General Haftar is an American puppet. Indeed George Vella referred to the Vienna meeting he attended where John Kerry, the American Secretary of State was also present.
During this meeting, Kerry made it a point of stressing that America supports General Haftar. This goes to show the hypocrisy the current American Foreign Policy is advocating. In the past, Obama's Administration accused Russia and President Putin of irresponsibility for supporting General Haftar, particularly after the international media revealed that he was responsible for the genocides in Libya.Incidentally, Malta only recognizes the Libyan Embassy in Ta' Xbiex that supports Haftar, which however, does not represent the current Libyan Government appointed by the United Nations. At the same go, George Vella expressed his worries that Haftaris refusing to recognize this government.
It is worth noting here that America supported Labour's victory in 2013. In the light of all this, and if Labour wants to continue having the backing of the AmericanDemocats, Malta has no alternative but to become an active participant in this EU Army. Once it is in place, it will become an extension of NATO. There is only one hitch: the American forthcoming elections. Nevertheless, in spite of who makes it to the White House, Malta is embroiled in a diplomatic mess. This does not augur well for the country.
At the same time, Malta is more than willing to assist outgoing Obama in helping Arab and Muslim dictators to have a stronger say in the Mediterranean. This explains why, Vella insisted that during the Maltese Presidency, the Arab League will be invited to give its share on the future of the Mediterranean and on that of Libya in particular. Vella did not mince words. He said that Europe’s views are diametrically opposite to those of the Arab League about Libya.
The interest of the Arabic League in the region is mostly linked to the strengthening Islam. I am sure that this is in Obama’s interest and such interest will intensify if Clinton becomes the new American President. It is an open secret that Obama supports Islamic regimes and Islam is high on his agenda. This explains why Trump has got so far. The American citizen has had enough of the Democrats’political hypocrisy.
The irony of it all is that our two main political parties are today in the pockets of the American Democrats. For this reason, political developments happening right now in the southern border of the Mediterranean are either being conveniently ignored or completely misanalysed by both our major parties.