Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1000343
OPINION 21 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 1 JULY 2018 I really do not expect much inspiration from the hobbling figure of Jean Claude Juncker; a pitiful sight when one appreci- ates that he is supposed to be the Chief of a Union that, in so many people's eyes, has lost its moral backbone. The EU is nothing but a circus of conflicting ideas and con- stantly shifting policies that are adjusted according to the electoral whims of its member States. The decision taken by the EU council at the Commission has basically reiterated, albeit in diplomatic fashion, that the thousands of desperate Africans who are fleeing economic mis- ery and political strife in their countries from the shores of Libya can, just as well, fuck off. All this talk of social justice and compassion and respect for human rights in Europe is noth- ing but a fake serenade. Europe and Malta are no different to Donald Trump: Trump orders the separation of mothers and children on American soil, we tell them to stay on their small boat in the middle of the Med and not to dare enter our ports. I have to admit that at one point I really thought of stand- ing for the European parlia- ment and of getting involved in politics once again. But the truth is that recent events have convinced me that I should not be part of this charade. That decision was partly sealed by the treatment we received as a nation when we were de- scribed as a Mafia State by the likes of Sven Giegold and Ana Gomes, and dozens of so-called journalists. Indeed, the two MEPs convinced me that there are kangaroo courts after all! I was further convinced not only by the wasteful salaries and perks that MEPs receive when compared to their colleagues here in Malta but also by the fact that I cannot quite figure which political group I would sit most comfortably with. Or whether there was a difference between any of the politicians. Joseph Muscat, like all Eu- ropean political leaders, takes serious note of the heartbeat of his electorate before he takes a decision. He knows that his country is doing very well economically, but he also knows that the Maltese continue to believe that 'asylum seekers' are invading our country and that foreigners who are the lifeline to our economic success aren't exactly welcome. And he knows that the Maltese will welcome a Golden passport foreigner but shun a migrant willing to work a 60-hour-week for a pittance. Worse still, Muscat knows that this is a perception and not the truth, and he knows that the fear that Maltese workers will lose their jobs to foreigners is also inaccurate. PN leader, Adrian Delia, knows this as well, but Delia, in a desperate attempt to win some much-needed support, has moved precariously to the right of politics. Instead of standing out for some principle, he is simply singing the same tune of his wife and conservative friends who pos- sibly regard blacks as aliens or something worse. He stands for nothing – just populism and right-wing xenophobia. But back to Muscat… he has blocked the port to those ships involved in saving migrants es- caping Africa from the Libyan shores and abetted by criminal gangs. He does not want illegal migrants on our shores and wants the Libyans to control the problem. He does not really care about what happens to them in Libya. There is little doubt, in my mind, that the criminal gangs in Libya are linked to the Libyan government or Libyan militia. Anarchy rules in Libya today but as is the case in the rest of Africa, much of the cha- os and disarray is a result of the politics of Europe in the last 70 years. In the case of Libya, special 'thanks' goes to France and the UK, in particular. Of course, we can argue that this is not our fault, but we carry a certain amount of responsibility to look beyond whose fault it is. Then again, even from a 'religious' viewpoint, the situation jars. Unlike the many MPs in this country's House of Representatives, I do not attend Mass; indeed I am not a practising Roman Catho- lic, I am more of an agnostic. So, it makes me wonder how none of our Roman Catholic MPs chose to stand up and be counted, considering that one of the basic tenets of Catholicism is compassion and solidarity. Not even the President, who cannot quite keep her opin- ion to herself anymore, had anything to say. Not even the Archbishop, who usually is so garrulous that he rolls over in his own excitement. Contrary to the very debat- able and unclear discernment of whether an embryo in a test-tube is a life or not, the migrants drowning in the Mediterranean sea are clearly no longer alive. And, to add insult to injury, the Captain of the ship, who sought to save migrants in a similar plight, is now expected to be arraigned. For all we care, such irregu- lar migrants are scum and they can drown to the bottom of the deep blue, or better still, have a taste of Libyan hos- pitality in the concentration styled camps where the rule of law reigns supreme. Give me a break. > • < I was enthralled to read how a white van rammed twice into the glass-fronted façade of the head offices of the tabloid newspaper De Telegraaf in Amsterdam some days ago. The driver got out and poured the contents of a can into the back of the Volkswa- gen Caddy van and set it alight and then fled in a waiting car. It was the second attack on a Dutch media organisation in a week. Before that, a man fired an anti-tank weapon into another building in the same area of Amsterdam housing the weekly newspaper Pano- rama. Now, just in case everyone has forgotten, the Netherlands has one of the highest ratings for the rule of law and democ- racy and all that jazz. Needless to say, not one foreign report- er or MEP dared accuse the Netherlands of being a Mafia State or a nation where the rule of law does not reign. I rest my case. Saviour Balzan For all we care, they are scum and they can drown to the bottom of the deep blue, or better still, have a taste of Libyan hospitality in the concentration styled camps where the rule of law reigns supreme @saviourbalzan Social justice, solidarity, compassion bla, bla, bla