PL Deputy Leader and MEP Alex Agius Saliba is in favour of updating the neutrality clause in Malta's constitution to strengthen it.

Agius Saliba spoke to this newsroom last week during an interview. The first part of the interview was published in The Malta Independent on Sunday, and focused on the hospitals deal case, magisterial inquiry reform and the Standards Commissioner.

He was also asked about the country's neutrality, an issue that has been highlighted as of late, as the debate on Europe's defence spending went on. Asked whether the rhetoric of neutrality and defence spending is getting muddled together, he does not believe so. "Neutrality is not a tape you stick over your mouth so as not to condemn what is wrong, and say what it good. We condemn the Russian aggression on Ukraine. Something I have done on a number of occasions is condemn the genocide in Palestine against the Palestinians, it is voicing concerns about something that is happening around us," he said.

Agius Saliba then went on to talk about the defence arguments being raised at EU level.

The European Union project began as an economic project, he said. "Before the EU was established, you had Germany, France and a number of other European countries in competition over who has the largest army, the best armaments technology, and today we have an economic cooperation situation instead of military competition. That was the understanding of the majority of people in Malta when they voted for Malta to join the EU. When at the time Alfred Sant used to say that the future predictions of the treaty could lead to economic collaboration ending up turning into military collaboration, we are today seeing that happen."

Regarding the EU's defence spending plan, Malta's Prime Minister, Robert Abela, had said that Malta "will not make use of the money to buy weapons and ammunition of destruction," and that Malta was given a guarantee that it could stay out of it.

Agius Saliba said that the plan the EU is speaking about when it talks about loans and investments in the military, "even by going against the most fundamental fiscal principals of the EU in terms of deficit etc., that €800bn investment would not be for investment in the Maltese Armed Forces for instance, but would be to have a European armed forces. For the 27 different armies we have in the EU, which all have different military traditions which operate separately, to become as one, so that the EU economic project also evolves to a military project, with direct military cooperation at a European level."

Agius Saliba spoke of the importance of the unanimity vote requirement on issues regarding defence and foreign affairs at EU level, and not moving towards Qualified Majority Voting (QMV), adding that there had been votes on this. If such a change came to pass, that is where a problem for Malta's neutrality would be, he warned, "as a country would end up losing the right to, even if alone and saying that it doesn't agree with a foreign policy or on a military defence expenditure, it would end up in a situation where it can't do anything as it would have lost the right to veto."

He said that part of the EU package would mean that part of the GDP which could be invested as a country in education, healthcare or the social sector, would instead go, not into the Armed Forces of Malta, but directly to finance arms to be sent to the war in Ukraine. "I can never agree with that kind of policy and for me, as a socialist and a labourite, the principle of neutrality is sacrosanct and cannot be touched."

"I am not one to say that I completely disagree with having a discussion about the principle of neutrality in the Constitution. Do we need to have a discussion and updating of the neutrality principle? Yes, but not to weaken it, to strengthen it. Not to break neutrality, but to ensure that neutrality, as it was written down years ago, is strengthened with text that strengthens this principle more. Neutrality is the principle that gave us prosperity and economic and social stability as a country," he said. 

He spoke of the importance of not risking the neutrality principle.

He said that the geopolitical situation today is far more complex and different than it was in the 80s, noting that the neutrality clause still talks of two superpowers. He spoke of the idea of having an update to the text through consultation aimed at strengthening neutrality. He said the Prime Minister was completely misinterpreted when he "spoke after an EU Council meeting and said that there was the need to open the principle of neutrality. It wasn't to weaken or reduce neutrality, but to strengthen the principle of neutrality."

This is a principle that should unite us as a country, he said, "by seeing the principle of neutrality and non-alignment strengthened more by possibly being more precise, or neutral in the way it is written, to ensure that it serves for today's and tomorrow's realities."

Being interviewed last week, prior to the publication of new surveys on Sunday, he was asked about the gap between the two parties in the MEP elections last year, and Agius Saliba said that every election gives a snapshot of the period within which it took place. 

"If I said I was content with the MEP and local council electoral results I would be lying. I expected the party to have a larger gap. I contested and assumed the role of PL Deputy Leader for Party Affairs to provide my input for the party in the coming general election to again achieve a comfortable majority." He said that there is a lot of good, "especially internally within the party structures, but it was important for us to address a number of things to be more prepared."

One of the priorities the party began working on, he said, "was the sense of togetherness within the party, not because there were any divisions within the party, but there was the need to open the door for all those who wanted to provide input to the party with new ideas and help in different sectors, for them to provide their input. This was one of the first initiatives we implemented internally which I think already began giving a different picture of the PL, through the innovative activities we organised," he said, also mentioning the celebration plans for 1 May which he said will be different from past years.

"Tied to the coming general election, we built strong structures in terms of outreach, electoral manifesto preparations - which is also a continuation of the manifesto we had, but also a manifesto that would address a number of new priorities that are based on the people's priorities. We also tried to amalgamate the aspects of outreach, activities that are organised, target groups, to also strengthen our ideas based on peoples' aspirations (...) We have started down a road to see the party to be more organised, that contact with people and activists who might have felt distanced over the past years again feel comfortable in the PL" he said, mentioning that the party is working on continuous contact with the people.