It has been 46 years since that crucial evening when Prime Minister Dom Mintoff lit the torch of freedom at the Birgu waterfront, and the last British soldier left Malta for good. It was a momentous moment in Malta's history and certainly the highlight of Perit Mintoff's political career. This Sunday, the Labour Party convenes in Birgu to salute Mintoff's remarkable achievement and reflect on the importance of Malta's freedom today.

Freedom Day remains relevant today as ever. We are celebrating Malta's political freedom from foreign rule at a time of great geopolitical upheaval.

The war in Ukraine, following Russia's unjustified invasion, continues to wreak havoc to peoples' lives in Kiev and across Ukraine.

In Gaza, the situation is as bad as ever - a few days ago, nearly 1,000 children, women, and men were killed following a massive Israeli strike, the worst since the ceasefire was announced. The EU was conspicuously absent in condemning this barbarous attack. EP President Roberta Metsola, who a few weeks ago did a media tour in Palestine and Gaza, kept silent. She was busy organizing a book launch at the EP for a former British Prime Minister.

In Brussels, the EU Commission is urging member states to plug in into a billion-euro scheme whereby states are being encouraged to take out loans to buy weapons. It is being referred to as 'ReArm' Europe. Ursula Von der Leyen, in her capacity as EU Commission President, and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, are insisting that member states have no option, given the turn of political events in Washington, but to invest in weapons and defence. 'It is about damn time' that Europe did so, Metsola told reporters in Brussels.

Now let's call a spade by its name. The new administration in Washington seems to be keeping the EU at arm's length, to the extent of excluding, or nearly, the EU from negotiations between Moscow and Kiev to hopefully bring the war to an end. As an EU member state, Malta believes that the EU plays an important role in the finding of a permanent solution to the senseless war between Russia and Ukraine and that no US administration should keep the EU out of the door. That is a given, and Von der Leyen is right in insisting that the EU must be kept on board the negotiations.

But the EU seems determined to go further. The position, in Brussels, is that since Europe can 'no longer' rely on the US in the case of aggression by a third party, then it must spruce up its defence and to do so it must arm itself heavily and immediately. Hence, the 'ReArm' plan. Of course, and as expected, this will not come for free - it is a billion-euro sort of fund that EU member states can avail themselves of through loans, which obviously must eventually be repaid in full.

In Brussels, Prime Minister Robert Abela spoke on behalf of most Maltese citizens, proud of their country's neutrality, when he made it abundantly clear that whilst Malta shall not disrupt the Commission's plans, however Malta shall not participate in this billion-dollar fund to purchase weapons. Robert Abela said that the people of Malta will not pay one euro cent to buy weapons and to make good for other member states to do so. The Prime Minister spoke on our behalf. The latest Eurobarometer confirms that the absolute majority of Maltese citizens are four-square behind the Prime Minister on this for only 14% of the Maltese population, who believe that defence should be Europe's top priority. 

Malta has always believed that the basis for our prosperity is peace and that peace is not achieved through the barrel of a gun. We learned our lesson the hard way. As a colony, Malta suffered heavily from the brunt of war until our forefathers loudly and unequivocally said 'never again' - and along came Independence, Republic, and Freedom Day. Three important occasions ensured that Malta remains free and a master of its own destiny. We have also enshrined neutrality in our Constitution, and it has served us well ever since.

Unfortunately, Metsola in Brussels and the PN in Malta insist that Malta, too, must invest in weapons whilst they lip-service their 'belief' in neutrality.

They have taken the Labour government to task for doing the right thing: protecting Malta's neutrality; making it clear that Malta shall not be part of the 'ReArm' plan; insisting that Malta should remain firmly committed to its role as an interlocutor for peace in Europe and the Mediterranean and refusing suggestions to reverse this matter-of-principal position.

Labour strongly believes that the values of peace and neutrality were those values that since Freedom Day led to our country's economic prosperity so that today the challenges of unemployment and high national debt, among others, are challenges of the past.

The Maltese Government position is clear: While we recognize the security challenges of the European Union, the way forward must continue to be one that prioritizes dialogue and diplomacy.

Make no mistake, the basis of our country's prosperity is peace and an entrenched neutral status. 

Biennale.art

We have just unveiled the second edition of the Malta Biennale.art.  This event fits exactly in the scope of our mission to not only provide a platform and opportunity for networking for our local talent, but also to bolster Malta's international role by being a place where important conversations can be made through art and culture. 

Of course, needless to say, this will be another opportunity to provide the Maltese population and the tourists who visit us with a high-quality, high-calibre cultural fete right in our own countries.  While, until a few years ago, we needed to catch a plane or a vessel to go abroad and enjoy biennales, now we are promoting our own biennale.

The artistic director for the second edition of our Biennale is Rosa Martinez, who in the past even curated the Venice Biennale. She brings with her tremendous energy, experience and verve to make this second edition a memorable one. 

Well done to all those involved, not least the Chairperson of the Biennale, Mario Cutajar.