Prime Minister Robert Abela said that he was satisfied at managing to achieve a safeguard of Malta’s neutrality in a European Union agreement to strengthen defence spending, because for the government “Malta comes first.”

Giving Parliament a run-down of a European Council summit held last week, Abela said that the summit began with interventions from the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres, with the Ukraine war dominating discussions together with other “many times more emotional” interventions on the situation in the Middle East.

Guterres, Abela said, compared what the world is going through now to the Cold War, with the increase of “chaos” rather than “order.”  The Prime Minister noted that what was shocking was the news that more innocent civilians had died in Gaza in the last two months than in the last two years in the Ukraine war.

Abela continued that he had intervened that Malta needs to do everything as a country to help stop the suffering of innocent children, to fight hunger – which Abela said had been weaponised, and to improve the deteriorating situation in hospitals.

The Prime Minister said that Guterres specifically thanked Malta and Slovenia for their work in the United Nations Security Council.

In discussions with European leaders, which Abela said took place in the context of more pressure for more spending on defence and security, the Prime Minister said that he wanted the country to win the necessary safeguards for its constitution and its Parliament’s position.

“I felt that I had to do this because in the past months, some high-ranking officials seemed more interested in promoting conflict and the arms and missiles industry instead of peace,” Abela said.

He said that Malta as a different understanding “and will continue to make all the necessary efforts to promote peace, as we have always done.”

“Even though this government does not agree, we understand that some want to make those decisions.  Some want to allow war industries to grow their profits.  They are free to do so and their people will judge them,” Abela said.

He said that he was happy to have negotiated the summit’s conclusions to have a specific safeguarded respecting the country’s neutrality – something which he said that he had spoken about in Malta, and negotiated because “for us, Malta comes first.”

Abela said that the European Council’s conclusions, after six months, of silence are certainly not perfect and he would have liked to see more ambitious conclusions “but I do say that it’s positive that a message is sent that we are worried about this worsening situation are losing their lives.”

He continued that he was pleased that the conclusions include a position seeking the permanent cessation of fighting, and also said that the principle of self-defence cannot be abused of, and that fundamental human rights need to be observed.

He continued that Malta – together with Spain, Slovenia, and Ireland – went one step further and said that in the long-term and when the time is right, they will recognise the Palestinian State.

Touching upon the subject of agriculture, which was also discussed, Abela said that the gist of talks seemed to take into consideration the voices of farmers, and the council agreed that more help must be given to the sector because it is strategically crucial.