Malta's position in the Lifeline case has been widely praised at the European Council, both implicitly and explicitly, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on One Radio today.

In an interview recorded on Saturday, Dr Muscat said that in the Lifeline case Malta succeeded where the EU never did - ie get other Member States to agree on a common way of action.

Dr Muscat said he has been attending EU summits long enough to see through so many declarations of a breakthrough which then turn out to be less so. Nevertheless, it is true that a lot has been done over the years but more needs to be done. Seen like this, this was no breakthrough although today countries have more tools at their disposal and more money is being spent to address the migrant issue.

EU President Tusk explicitly praised and mentioned Malta in his address to the Council.

The Lifeline case arose when the two ships took on migrants in the Libyan seas. One ship then disobeyed orders and headed to Italy which meanwhile had blocked all its ports. This action brought the ship to Maltese waters - Malta was not responsible for this.
At this point there was the risk the situation could escalate especially if the sea became rougher and an emergency action would have been needed. Malta would have had to take in the migrants on the ship.

So last Sunday when he was in Brussels for the emergency unofficial summit,  he (Dr Muscat) took the initiative and contacted a number of countries so that joint action could be taken. Malta thus did what the EU itself never did. This is what President Tusk praised.

Nine countries expressed themselves as willing to take in migrants and share responsibility for them. One country (Malta) took the lead and others followed. At the end nine countries agreed to share responsibility. This was a political decision.

Every country must take into account the public opinion inside it but at the end nine countries accepted Malta's initiative. Dr Muscat thanked all the various government staffers who helped out in these days of crisis. 

Secondly, there remains the question what to do with those who took their own decision with no regard to the law. Malta will take action in this regard, Dr Muscat said, referring to the arraignment of the Lifeline captain which will take place tomorrow.

Lifeline will be accused of not obeying orders and regulations. The EU Council conclusions clearly say that all shipping in the Mediterranean must obey orders and must not obstruct the actions of the Libyan coastguards. The EU has spent huge funds to upgrade the Libyan coastguards  It cannot be that while the EU is spending so much money, someone decides to take unilateral action.

The Libyan coastguards have meanwhile just been certified by an important certification body as being able to do coastguard duties. Libyan soldiers are also being trained both after funds by the Italian government and also by the EU Home Affairs section.

The Lifeline captain will thus be accused of disregarding the rules.

Meanwhile, almost by accident, it was discovered that the ship which carried a Dutch flag was only certified as a pleasure craft .

The captain at some times even switched off the transponders which action is also illegal.

The Maltese government thus launched an investigation. If no investigation was ordered, the others would have felt they could do as they liked.

It is a fair guess to say that those who migrate because of war in their countries will go back to their countries as soon as the war ends. This is what happened in Lebanon.  But economic migrants among the Lifeline people will be sent back. These had hoped to get to Europe so as to improve their family's state - a worthy aim in itself - and they must be helped as long as they remain in Africa.

Maybe this is not exactly legal but it may be the best way to tackle this phenomenon. We think there is only one type of migration, from Africa to Europe but there is also inter-African migration, Dr Muscat said, quoting what the prime minister of Botswana told him with regards to migrants from Zimbabwe. It is the duty of EU Member States to promote stability in a world of instability.

Finally, Dr Muscat had two short messages to mark unemployment in Malta going below 1800 and to praise Silvio Schembri and all he is doing with regards to Blockchain.