Wishful thinking in any context is dangerous. Wishful thinking in the context of today’s geopolitical landscape is a death wish.
On Sunday, prime minister Robert Abela doubled down on his delusional strain of pacifism.
According to the Times’ report, Abela says the Maltese government wants to ‘build an economy around peace, not war.’
Evoking imagery of destroyers and war planes disembarking in our ports and landing on our runway, our prime minister continues to posture as our homegrown version of Mahatma Gandhi, con la barca e i muscoli.
Abela’s theory about Malta’s neutrality is ripped straight out of Mintoff’s sacred hymn sheet. The prime minister believes we owe our economic prosperity to decades of relative peace since the Second World War.
Given the success of Malta’s history as a country whose military neutrality is enshrined in its Constitution, the prime minister argues that Malta must strictly avoid buying into increased military expenditure across the European continent.
Abela repeatedly emphasised that the European Union’s rearmament drive may lead to sweeping cuts in welfare services. The prime minister also claimed that his government would continue “shielding and sustaining” Maltese families with generous subsidies.
This is in line with the government’s overall efforts to frame its ability to subsidise family spending as one that depends on Malta’s rapid economic growth.
In other words: no neutrality means more weapons spending, which means less money for economic growth and welfare services. That is the thrust of the prime minister’s argument (in spite of the fact that there are far more reasonable alternatives).
Historically speaking, the prime minister’s description of Malta’s transition from military outpost to independent state is mostly correct. To establish the Maltese nation, Malta had to first shed its identity as a servant to colonial powers.
The Labour Party’s drive to secure Malta’s military neutrality was, at the time, reasonable. The only way to emerge from that era was to take drastic steps to ensure that Malta would not get caught up fighting someone else’s battles.
Though the Labour government had come this close to signing a military agreement with the US in 2020, it has mostly continued to nurture its lifelong obsession with neutrality.
Malta’s neutrality is now being used as a disingenuous cop-out in the face of unprecedented aggression towards the EU. It is a bygone relic from a different era, and yet, our prime minister insists it is our panacea.
Abela is right to think that his predecessors made the right judgement call when they enshrined military neutrality in the Constitution. He is completely wrong to think that he is in a position to keep the same mindset.
Malta’s military neutrality was advantageous in the context of a Soviet Union that was busy folding in on itself and a United States that was willing and able to defend its European allies. It kept the US’ brand of imperialism at bay while ensuring Malta was open for business with anyone, even countries that the US considered its enemies.
Now, Putin’s Russia is hungrily eyeing the territories that were previously tucked behind the Iron Curtain, while Trump’s America eats from Putin’s hand like a bamboozled deer that is unaware of how thoroughly it is about to get cooked by the hands that are feeding it.
The trillion dollar question: if Trump is so invincible, then why does he act like Putin’s deputy?
In the face of this pincer attack on the sovereignty of the EU’s member states, we must all come to terms with the fact that the Mintoffian brand of neutrality is no longer viable.
In a geopolitical context in which everyone is preparing for war, Malta’s desire to sidestep conflict is a luxury that we no longer afford.
There are no neutral states. There are states which are willing and able to count on each other in times of need, and there are those who will remain outliers. The ones with strong, reliable networks will survive. The ones who remain in isolation will be left behind.
Malta is irrelevant on the global stage. Our survival depends on the collective strength of the European Union. Carving out Maltese exemptions amid the EU’s scramble to spend more money on self-defence isn’t shrewd diplomacy – it’s cowardice.
The Trump-Putin tag team descended on war-torn Ukraine to impose a meaningless truce, carving up a sovereign nation like the blood that was spilled to defend it from aggression means absolutely nothing. Given that Russia has no interest in a permanent ceasefire, it is inevitable that this cowardly appeasement of an invading tyrant will lead to more bloodshed.
Today, it is Ukrainian blood. Tomorrow, it will be the blood of our European neighbours.
Therein lies the deception that underpins Abela’s false pacifism. The EU will never be able to survive unless its member states stop jealously guarding aspects of their sovereignty while also expecting to reap the benefits of being a member of the collective.
We cannot stand idly by as our neighbours shoulder the burden of rearming Europe alone and then expect them to protect us should any conflict arise near our shores.
As a bona fide princeling who spent his teens in a presidential palace, Robert Abela may have gotten used to having his cake and eating it, but that’s not how the real world works.
In a world run by bullies, Malta’s neutrality is simply vulnerability dressed up as noble intent.