Mr Privitera is obviously still reeling from Malta’s democratic decision, taken many years ago, to join the European Union. He is still sticking to his guns and has taken umbrage at a suggestion to include a clause in Malta’s Constitution, making the possibility of Malta’s withdrawal from EU subject to a two-thirds majority in Parliament (“A preposterous suggestion”, TMIS 2 June).  

Well, all is fair in love and war, so Mr Privitera is quite entitled to dispute this suggestion. But he goes a bit too far by telling us that Malta’s entry into the EU came about as a result of the “scaremongering tactics” which were “used with such devastating effect”. Mr Privitera also ominously adds that he will “not go into the reasons” how the Yes vote was obtained because, nudge-nudge, wink-wink, “We all know how!” – this, readers please note, is emphasised with Mr Privitera’s signature exclamation mark. Having tantalised his readers with this remark, Mr Privitera does not go further into ‘how’ the yes vote was obtained – leaving us all mystified as to exactly which pro-EU scaremongering tactics were used with such devastating effect. 

But let us roll the record back to the run-up to Malta’s entry into the EU, around the time Malta’s application into the EU had been sabotaged by the administration in power of the time. Readers will recall that this was disguised by the illusory but catchy phrase of “Switzerland in the Mediterranean”. When the banality of this phrase started to embarrass Mr Privitera, he took to adding, in desperation, that when he used the word ‘Switzerland’ he didn’t really mean ‘Switzerland’ at all and neither would it be an exact copy of the Swiss-EU accords – thus confusing everybody at a higher level and almost frightening the horses in the street.   

Most revealing of all was the pitiful litany of nonsense submitted for publication in the printed media by Mr Privitera and other like-minded colleagues like Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, Dr Sant, Franz Sammut, etc. Here is a random litany of some of these, not necessarily in logical order because they defy logic in the first place. Here are a few choice dire predictions dished out by these gentlemen: 

“EU membership, rather than resulting in a better standard of living, will bring much hardship and discontent, we were told.  We will lose forever the right to a final say as to under which conditions foreign workers can come to live, work or do business in Malta.  European hordes will invade Malta and there will be a great influx of EU workers who will take jobs away from Maltese citizens. As a result of unemployment, Maltese people will end up sweeping streets in other EU countries.

“We should keep out of the EU because EU economic policies will result in millions (sic) of unemployed due to ‘lack of Christian principles’. We should not join the EU because its agricultural policies deprive hungry millions of food in third world countries (also ‘due to lack of Christian principles'). Moreover, EU militarization squanders millions which could usefully be dedicated to improve the millions of deprived citizens in the EU.

“Joining the EU is no more than mere bootlicking. People who voted in favour of the EU will soon realize too late that chickens come home to roost. The application for entry into the EU at that point in time put Malta in bad company because other “ex-communist countries” (not to mention partly occupied Cyprus!) were applying at the same time. We will lose our freedom, etc. We will lose our sovereignty etc. 

“Malta’s national language will be scrapped and the Maltese language will become extinct. We will lose our national identity. Maltese will once more become the language of the kitchen. The use of Maltese in our Law Courts will wither because our national language will be invaded by EU laws. There will be an onslaught of foreign central European education. Maltese will be replaced by a newly-hatched version of English.” 

Then there was all that squirming after the results of the referendum were announced. The referendum was dubbed “after all” – “purely consultative”, a mere “snapshot taken as part of an opinion survey”.

The list of anti-EU invective was endless. This included a (thankfully unpublished) rumour that pregnancy would be extended to 16 months, which also made the rounds for a while. The above verbatim quotes represent only a few examples from the mass of the insane anti-EU posturing and jiggery-pokery, verging on the paranoid, that preceded Malta’s momentous entry into the EU. Thank goodness common sense prevailed in the end so that our children, grandchildren and generations to come will grow up as European citizens and not be eternally condemned to isolation.

G.G. Debono

SLIEMA