The newly-appointed Cabinet decided on Thursday to reactivate Malta’s membership in Partnership for Peace – a decision which, they emphasised, will not affect Malta’s neutral status.
Malta’s membership was a bone of contention between the two main political parties when, in 1995, a Nationalist government put forward Malta’s name. However, the Labour Party pledged to withdraw the application if it was elected and in fact did so in 1996.
The Partnership for Peace (PfP) is a programme of practical bilateral cooperation between individual Partner countries and NATO. It allows partner countries to build up an individual relationship with NATO, choosing their own priorities for cooperation.
The Cabinet took this decision to allow Malta’ to participate, fully and unconditionally, in all of the EU’s organs, the Department of Information said.
Furthermore, it will also directly benefit and strengthen the Armed Forces of Malta.
In a government statement, it was pointed out that Malta not being a member of the PfP caused problems within the EU especially when its foreign policies working in collaboration with NATO were being discussed. The Council of Ministers and its committees could not circulate and discuss documents issued by Nato even when these affected EU decisions.
Furthermore, Malta was not present and participating in meetings discussing information issued by NATO.
PfP member countries have an agreement, between themselves, and with NATO about the confidentiality of documents but through Malta’s membership, its lack of participation will no longer be a problem.
Several countries with a neutral status, such as Switzerland, Austria, Ire-land, Finland and Sweden, have become members of PfP because in no way does it imply that member countries have to participate in military operations.
Following Malta’s decision to join the Partnership for Peace, British High Commissioner Nick Archer expressed his satisfaction at Malta’s decision.
‘The UK is delighted by Malta’s decision to reenter PfP. The key thing for us is that Malta will be able to participate more fully in European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) activity, which means that it can in future make a bigger contribution to keeping Europe safe and to the EU effort to create a more peaceful world,” he said.
US Acting Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Daniel Fried also welcomed the Malta’s decision.
“These institutions make a valuable contribution to Euro-Atlantic security and dialogue. The PfP has effectively strengthened relationships between states in Europe and North America, increased practical cooperation and underlined our common commitment to democratic principles,” he said.