The Labour Party has decried Opposition Leader Alex Borg's recent comments from earlier last weekend, where he questioned how Malta, as a neutral country, can have anything to do with the ongoing war in the Middle East.

During a PL press conference on Tuesday, Energy Minister Miriam Dalli and Finance Minister Clyde Caruana condemned Borg's remarks, noting that "those who do not believe that the ongoing war cannot impact our country, cannot truly protect the Maltese and Gozitan people from its ramifications."

"How can you solve or address challenges or problems if you do not even recognise that those challenges exist?" Dalli asked.

"If one believes that the war has no effect on Malta, then they definitely will not wrap their head around how to address that impact."

In the press conference, a recording was played of Borg during his party's most recent political activity on Sunday where he said: "they are almost saying that there is a crisis in the country because of the war that is occurring right now, but you tell me, how can Malta, as a neutral country, have anything to do with it?"

Dalli said that while the Opposition Leader is downplaying the Middle Eastern war's ramifications to the rest of the world, the entire world is eagerly watching what is emerging from the region, investors are concerned on its effects to stocks, logistics, and transport, the global energy sector is in crisis, and flights are being affected significantly enough that the Maltese government has had to intervene to help salvage and return people from abroad following flight cancellations.

Dalli added that through this context, she is left unsurprised by what the PN shadow minister for finance, Adrian Delia, is saying about the government's sustained energy subsidies.

Citing some articles that Delia recently wrote in the local press, Dalli told viewers that according to the former PN leader, these subsidies must be a short-term measure that should soon come to an end.

Among the referred quotes, Delia had written that "while this is justified in times of crisis, it raises important questions about long-term sustainability," and that "if the buffer is exhausted and further intervention is needed, Malta risks breaching EU deficit limits unless those rules are relaxed," and that "the €250 million buffer is an acceptable short-term provision. It provides short-term protection."

"Delia is scaremongering that we will not, or cannot, reach our financial aims with keeping the energy subsidies in place. Once again, we are seeing that the Opposition is confused when it comes to the energy sector," Dalli said.

She added that she is unsurprised by Delia's stance on this subject, since this is also what Alex Borg believes.

Dalli then played another recording of Borg speaking, from a separate occasion, this time of him saying that while the subsidies have kept bills low, he sees them as something "short-term" and "short-lived."

Dalli noted that, according to Eurostat, Malta is the only EU country where fuel prices have not gone up since 2020.

"If we had not provided this assistance consistently, in the last few years, families would have had to pay thousands of more annually for electricity, fuel, and gas," she said.

Dalli said that because of these energy subsidies, from the start of this legislature in March 2022 till today, an adult couple have saved, on average, €5,700 annually.

Meanwhile, an average family of two adults and one child have saved approximately €6,100 per year, while a traditional family of four (two adults and two children) have saved around €6,400 annually.

She also mentioned that this helped businesses retain their competitiveness.

Dalli said that if Borg cannot grasp the war's impact onto the Maltese islands, then he cannot envision a solution to its effects.

Meanwhile, the PL government has given a solution while keeping the country strong, she said.

The Opposition can never garner the government's credibility for this sector, Finance Minister says

Minister for Finance Clyde Caruana said that whilst the government has sustained the energy subsidies while lowering its budget deficit with each passing year, this PL government has become credible in a way that a PN government could never be.

Caruana said that in times of struggle, "instead of assisting people and businesses," the PN has historically undertaken austerity policies while still tanking national finances.

He said that the government will continue retaining its energy subsidies to keep absorbing financial hits.

Caruana said that Malta's present context is only possible because it has "the finances of a strong country."

He said that throughout the past few years, with each crisis that emerged, such as the Covid-19 pandemic and the price hikes caused by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government intervened and prices remained stable.

Caruana said that "despite everything, the country's deficit began going down year after year," and that on Wednesday, 22 April, he and the European Commission will be announcing the financial results for 2025.

This will include a financial update on Malta's performance as it looks to exit from the EU's excessive budget deficit procedure, Caruana said.

"Thanks to our measures, we are able to keep absorbing exogenous shocks and our economy is able to keep functioning," he said.

Caruana said that the national deficit decreased more than targeted by the end of 2025.

Previously anticipated that Malta will lower its budget deficit down to 3.3% of its GDP by the end of 2025, Caruana said that the updated national deficit has been lowered below that target, even in spite of the global hiccups causing financial difficulty worldwide.

He said that it is true that the energy subsidies are coming at a cost, though through what is being said by the PN, "they are not recognising the seriousness and gravity of this situation. If you are not doing that, you cannot ensure that the ship will keep sailing."

Caruana concluded that when comparing Malta to other EU countries, Malta is unique in how it reacts to exogenous shocks, and that the government is managing to offer what other countries are struggling to provide: peace of mind.

In reply, the Nationalist Party issued a statement saying that the Labour Party should stop scaremongering people and instead focus on how it will solve the problems "it has created."

"The PL should start honest with the Maltese people. Alex Borg and the PN are crystal clear that they agree with the energy subsidy," it said.

"Instead of getting lost in negativity and the politics of fear of the Labour Party, government Ministers should be finding solutions to the problems they themselves have created. That is what Maltese and Gozitan families expect from them," the PN statement said.