Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Sunday that Malta is “prepared for any eventuality” in dealing with the disabled Russian LNG tanker which is now threatening to drift into Maltese waters.

Abela started his Sunday speech in Paola by commemorating a man synonymous with the locality’s sporting fortunes: Tony Bezzina.  Bezzina, who had been the President of the locality’s Hibernians FC for 42 years, passed away exactly five years ago.  A garden named after him was inaugurated by the government on Friday.

Much of the Prime Minister’s speech focused on the international situation, how it is impacting Malta, and how his government will continue to give the people “certainty, peace of mind, and stability.”

He referred to the now disabled Russian LNG tanker Arctic Metagaz, which was struck in a suspected drone or missile attack in international waters southeast of Malta on 3 March.

The tanker is abandoned but remains afloat, and is drifting with currents to the point that it may end up in Maltese waters sooner rather than later.

Abela would not be drawn into saying whether the tanker had been attacked or not, but he did say that the government is “prepared for any eventuality, whatever it may be.”

“That is the type of approach that we need to have in any circumstance: giving families peace of mind that whatever happens, Malta is prepared, strong, and organised,” he said.

“That is why people keep trusting us, even though we remain the underdogs,” Abela added.  “Whatever the circumstance, we are the underdogs. We need to work every day to gain the faith of the people,” he said.

He described the wider situation in the Gulf region as worrying, saying that the possibility that oil prices may well rise to $200 per barrel would have been considered “unbelievable.”

Abela continued by saying that the price of diesel in Sicily, for example, had doubled and that Malta remains the country with the cheapest diesel in the European Union – something which is important, as industry is built around diesel, and if the prices increase, then consumers will be the ones to bear the brunt of it.

He described the government’s decision to stabilise energy and utility prices as “the best strategic political decision” which the government could have taken.

Abela then turned to the PN, saying that its leader Alex Borg had said that the subsidies are short-term, asking people to imagine what would have happened had the government used that mentality.

“We’d be where other European countries are. But because we are consistent, because we can keep generating income for the country, we remain clear that we will keep this assistance,” Abela said.

“Others are not credible, however much they say they are,” he said of the PN, as he brought up the infamous free light bulbs handed out by the PN administration in 2008 as an example.

Abela also discussed Malta’s neutrality, reflecting that its importance is more today than ever before, as countries – including EU members – have been attacked because they have foreign military bases in their country.

“We are in favour of peace.  Wars aren’t solved by investing in more arms, but by investing in diplomacy, in peace talks. This is the PL’s consistent policy,” he said.

He said that despite high geopolitical tensions, the government is still focused on carrying out what it had promised – something that administrations abroad are struggling to do and something, he said, that the Nationalist Party would certainly not do if it were in power.

Abela blasted the PN as being a party which believes in the politics of punishments and of attacks, saying that the party had not apologised to PL MEP Daniel Attard after it emerged that Belgian police had mistaken him for his namesake who is the mayor of Gharb, or to Carmelo Abela, who had won a libel case over the HSBC bank heist.

“They punish people and attack them on a personal level without mercy with baseless allegations just because they disagree with them.  They even do it between themselves. That is the politics of someone who offers nothing to the country,” Abela said.

He said that the government will be holding a Cabinet meeting on Monday at the Civil Protection Department headquarters, where news on how the collective agreement for the country’s disciplined forces will be strengthened will be announced.

He also promised news in the coming days on the promise of five new major parks for the country.