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2 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 31 MAY 2020 maltatoday One-month special delivery fee of just €1 per day for orders up to 5 newspaper per address To subscribe 1. Email us your choice of newspapers, recipient's name, address, contact number to production@millermalta.com 2. Forward cheques payabale to Miller Distributors Ltd to address: Miller House, Air- port Way, Tarxien Road, Luqa LQA1814 Queries on other newspapers and magazines, contact production@millermalta.com home delivery maltatoday Malta rattles French, Germans with Irini 'bomb' MATTHEW VELLA MALTA'S prime minister Robert Abe- la yesterday expected phone-calls from Europe's two most powerful leaders. But the scheduled calls from German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emanuel Macron did not take place. It was a day of reckoning inside the European Council: Malta had vetoed EU funds for an important naval opera- tion close to French interests in Libya. Operation Irini, the EU naval mission tasked to enforce an arms embargo in Libya, was launched just months ago. But Malta this week announced it will with- draw its participation, with Armed Forces personnel having been the sole boarding team on the opera- tion. The move, a sop to Turkey, which is shipping weapons to the UN-recognised Government of Na- tional Accord, is intended at encouraging the GNA to come down hard on human traffickers and stem flows of irregular migration to Malta. But the French support the strongman Khalifa Haftar, who is getting his weap- ons over the Egyptian border, and air support from the United Arab Emirates – something Irini cannot stop. News in MaltaToday on Friday of the Maltese withdrawal from Irini prompt- ed a lot of questions inside the EU's Politico-Military Group, where mili- tary reps hold preparatory meetings on defence and security. During the break, Maltese representatives were ac- costed by their Dutch, Luxembourgish and Italian colleagues who said Malta's withdrawal had been "the bomb of the day". STAY IN, STAY SAFE, WE ARE IN THIS TOGETHER WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT/COVID19 Normality still far away, virus expert PAGE 3 COVID-19 WARNING Merkel and Macron schedule calls with Abela over Malta veto on Operation Irini JAMES DEBONO THE moment people start letting their guard down by not adhering to social distancing rules and basic norms like washing hands and not touching faces, the COVID-19 virus will strike back in a second wave which can be far more lethal than the first in terms of loss of life, warns Chris Bar- bara. COME SANITISE WITH ME How travel changes PAGE 4 COVID-19 will mean digital health certificates and payments, and contact- tracing apps mapping our movements 14-15 maltatoday €1.95 SUNDAY • 10 MAY 2020 • ISSUE 1071 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY INTERVIEW MT2 ADRIAN DELIA MT2 8-9 Man dies after stun gun, sedation used in disturbance complaint MATTHEW AGIUS MAGISTRATE Yana Micallef Stafrace is leading an inquiry in- to the death of a man who had just been subdued with a stun gun by law enforce- ment personnel and administered a seda- tive. In a statement yes- terday, the police said that on Friday evening at around 7pm, po- lice officers were dis- patched to deal with a report of a man on a roof in Zabbar, who was throwing objects at passers-by. PAGE 4 BREAKING BREAD COVID will change the way we eat out. Early booking recommended PAGE 12 LADIES OF THE LOCKDOWN Relax mums. We don't need pandemic superwomen... PGS 10-11 Robert Abela, with French President Emanuel Macron (right) Talk to us | 2131 2020 | bov.com All loans are subject to normal bank lending criteria, credit approval by the Bank and a credit agreement. Further terms and conditions are available from www.bov.com. Issued by Bank of Valletta p.l.c., 58, Triq San Żakkarija, Il-Belt Valletta VLT 1130. Bank of Valletta p.l.c. is a public limited company regulated by the MFSA and is licensed to carry out the business of banking in terms of the Banking Act (Cap. 371 of the Laws of Malta). KEEP YOUR BUSINESS STRONG FINANCING FOR BUSINESS BOV MDB COVID-19 ASSIST Same-day delivery of your favourite Sunday newspaper Monday-Friday Sat Sunday MaltaToday Midweek €1 n/a MaltaToday on Sunday €1.95 BusinessToday €1.50 n/a ILLUM €1.25 The Malta Independent €1 €1 The Malta Independent on Sunday €1.95 Times of Malta €1 €1 Sunday Times of Malta €1.95 In-Nazzjon €1 €1 Il-Mument €1.20 l-Orizzont €1 €1 It-Torca €1.50 Daily Mail €2.40 €2.40 Mail on Sunday €3.30 Daily Mirror €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Mirror €2.70 The Sun €2.50 €2.50 Sun on Sunday €2.50 Daily Express €2.50 €2.50 Sunday Express €3.30 Daily Star €2.20 €2.20 Sunday Star €2.50 Daily Telegraph €4.50 €5.00 Sunday Telegraph €5.70 The Times €4.50 €5.00 The Sunday Times €5.70 Financial Times €3.70 €4.50 People €2.70 The Guardian €3.90 €4.60 The Observer €4.90 Support your favourite newspaper with a subscription https://bit.ly/2X9csmr NEWS MATTHEW VELLA THE United States yesterday is- sued a belated statement of praise for Malta's seizure of $1.1 billion in counterfeit Libyan currency, to counter Russian efforts at releas- ing the cargo. The counterfeit cash was seized by Maltese Customs in Novem- ber 2019 but the cargo has re- mained under lock and key since then. The money was printed by a Russian state-owned company, Goznak JSC, in a bid to bankroll the rival Libyan government in the east of the country in Bay- da, led by Field Marshal Khalifa Haftar. The cash was found in two 2,000-cubic-foot containers when the shipment stopped in Malta. Russia has been supporting Haftar's incursions against the United Nations recognised Gov- ernment of National Accord (GNA) in Tripoli, with weapons and mercenaries. "Russia is making its pressure felt through its diplomatic chan- nels, both directly and indirect- ly," a political source told Malt- aToday. This newspaper understands Russia is seeking the release of the currency, but the United Kingdom has told Malta it should destroy the cargo. The United States, on the other hand, has told Malta to hold on to the cargo as evidence of Rus- sia's backing of Haftar and the Libyan National Army (LNA). The Department of Justice on Saturday made its presence felt with a statement commending Malta's seizure of the currency, which it said had been ordered by an illegitimate parallel entity. "The Central Bank of Libya headquartered in Tripoli is Lib- ya's only legitimate central bank. The influx of counterfeit, Rus- sian-printed Libyan currency in recent years has exacerbated Lib- ya's economic challenges. "The United States remains committed to working with the United Nations and interna- tional partners to deter illicit activities that undermine Libya's sovereignty and stability, and are inconsistent with international- ly-recognised regimes. This in- cident once again highlights the need for Russia to cease its ma- lign and destabilizing actions in Libya," the DOJ said. MaltaToday's source said the statement was a reminder from United States of its interest in stifling Russian influence in the Libyan conflict. However, Russia's presence in the war-torn country has long taken root: with mercenaries flying to bolster Haftar's LNA and also attempting to broker a ceasefire between the two sides in Moscow, Russia has been more effective than America's "leader- ship from behind" approach in Libya. War-torn Libya has two govern- ments: the internationally-recog- nised GNA in Tripoli to the west, and the Interim Government, sited in Bayda to the east, which is dominated by Haftar and the LNA. In April 2019, Haftar – backed by Egypt, Qatar, Russian merce- naries and also France – launched a bloody offensive on the capital. But the tide has turned against Haftar since January, when Tur- key started supplying armaments to the GNA, with whom it shares some ideological affinity through the presence of the Muslim Brotherhood in the government. Turkey's air attacks allowed the GNA to reclaim strongholds held by Haftar's forces. Malta too has lent a hand to the GNA's efforts by withdrawing from the EU naval operation Ir- ini, a mission intended to enforce the Libyan arms embargo but which targets Turkish shipments of weapons to the GNA. On the other hand, critics say Irini does nothing to stop Haftar's supply of weapons from across the Egyptian board. Since 2016, the eastern govern- ment has printed billions of Liby- an dinars in Russia, a large part of which has been used to bankroll the LNA and its war efforts. mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Russia tells Malta it wants seized Libyan cash back