Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1107757
MATTHEW VELLA THE former Labour foreign min- ister Alex Sceberras Trigona has embarked on a diplomatic campaign to encourage the United States and Russian governments to hold a his- toric summit in Malta, for the 30th anniversary of the 1989 summit. But his attempts at se- curing what would be a Trump-Putin summit in Malta in the first week of December, appear to have vexed the c o u n t r i e s ' r e s p e c - tive diplo- mats on the island. In what a high-level dip- lomatic source described as a case of "entrepre- neurial diplomacy", Sceberras Trigona – who was appointed the Prime Minister's special envoy to the World Trade Organisation – was said to have "aggressively" promoted the idea of securing a US-Russia summit in Malta. Arguably, the summit would be a coup for both Sceberras Trigona personally as well as for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, whose profile would benefit from building on Malta's soft power for neutrality and peace- making. But the reality is that inside American and Russian d i p l o m a t i c circles, the a t t e m p t has been v i e w e d negatively. "It is understandable that one commemorates the 30th an- niversary of the Malta summit which effectively signalled the end of the Cold War, but what should be focused upon is that legacy – not the state of US- Russian relations at the present moment. That is something for both governments to decide upon, and presidents Trump and Putin have each other's tel- ephone numbers," a high-level US government official told Mal- taToday. Indeed, Castille was informally made aware by diplomatic of- ficials that Sceberras Trigona's attempts at forcing through the meeting had to be "reined in". YOUR FIRST READ AND CLICK OF THE DAY WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT maltatoday €1.95 2 today T. 2276 5230 | fsletting@franksalt.com.mt | franksalt.com.mt/landlords Y E A R S O F R E A L E S T A T E 1 9 6 9 2 0 1 9 RENT YOUR PROPERTY FAST accurate free valuations register your property online from the comfort of your home intensive marketing and exposure for your property personal service tailored to suit your needs optional property management services L E T T I N G L E T T I N G L E T T I N G L E T T I N G L E T T I N G VISIT OUR WEBSITE TO DOWNLOAD OUR LATEST GUIDE WITH TIPS ON HOW TO RENT YOUR PROPERTY WISELY. With Frank Salt Real Estate you will benefit from: INSIDE MT2 today today SUNDAY • 21 APRIL 2019 • ISSUE 1015 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Envoy irks diplomats over attempt to broker Trump-Putin summit in Malta MAURICE MIZZI Has the Guardian of Future Generations bitten off more than he can chew? INTERVIEW 16-17 Has the Guardian of Future Generations bitten off more than he can chew? INTERVIEW 16-17 Shakespeare's Measure for Measure at The Splendid Happy Easter to all our readers! 2 meeting had to be PAGE 2 Castille told to rein in Alex Sceberras Trigona for 'freelancing' on Trump-Putin summit former Labour foreign min- ister Alex Sceberras Trigona has embarked on a diplomatic campaign to encourage the building on Malta's soft power for neutrality and peace- making. But the reality is that inside American and Russian d i p l o m a t i c circles, the Alex Sceberras Trigona was said to be aggressively promoting the idea of a summit between Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump, a move that has irked diplomats of both countries Stuff your boutique hotels! The pissed-off residents of Valletta's capital of culture PAGES 6-7 Books show government cash is 'saving' Air Malta MATTHEW VELLA AIR Malta, the national airline, has suffered millions of accumulated losses and under state aid rules, can no longer take a cent more from the government after a €200 million restructuring programme five years ago. But as its accounts for the year ended March 2018 – filed just days ago on Monday 15 April – show, its profits are clearly being generated by clever book entries that allow the Maltese government to inject more cash in the airline. Already the company suffers from a negative equity of €33.9 million, because its accumulated losses are €223 million and have eaten into its equity and share premium. The situation would have been worse had Air Malta not revalued its properties that year, which gave it a €16 million boost with which to pad those losses. But the real money-spinner has been the millions of euro from the Maltese government CONTIN- UES PAGE 3 Bees' rescue Why four bee-savers are worried about the future of Malta's honey bee, and agriculture PAGE 13