Prime Minister Joseph Muscat this morning reiterated the possibility of a Russian connection with the Egrant saga, saying however that the magisterial inquiry will find no shred of evidence and no shred of truth.
Replying to questions, Dr Muscat repeated what he said yesterday that information he had received from allied secret services was that Russia could be behind an attempt to destabilise the government. He did not confirm that the information was received six months ago, as reported in The Times today, but later added that he has long known about it.
Asked whether he believes this connection, Dr Muscat said that all he believes is that he was alerted to the situation. It’s not a situation that should lead to jokes or speculation, he added. He would not be drawn into saying, yes or no, whether he believes the Russian connection to be true.
Dr Muscat said that what is sure is that the magisterial inquiry will not find any evidence and much less an element of truth in what is being alleged.
It has been reported that the Prime Minister’s wife is the ultimate beneficial owner of Egrant, a company set up in Panama along with two others belonging to OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri and No Portfolio Minister Konrad Mizzi.
He said Opposition Leader Simon Busuttil has taken ownership of the story, and challenged him to say he will resign if the Egrant inquiry will find no connection with the PM or his wife.
Asked about the timeline of events - with the Russian whistleblower allegedly copying documents long before Russia took offence that Malta did not allow a Russian ship to refuel in Malta - Muscat avoided the question completely, preferring to repeat what he had already said about receiving information.
Dr Muscat had said yesterday that the Egrant saga was in retribution to this incident and to Malta's EU presidency pushing for a visa waiver programme for Ukraine, with both happening after the whistleblower copied documents related to the Egrant company.
A meeting with the National Security Committee has still not been called by Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, more than 24 hours after the Russian meddling allegations were highlighted by Dr Muscat, Nationalist Party Leader Simon Busuttil told the media today at a news conference. He repeated that the allegations are "ridiculous".
Dr Busuttil is a member of the Committee.
Photos & video: Michael Camilleri