Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1455666
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 FEBRUARY 2022 OPINION 3 LETTERS & EDITORIAL maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 FEBRUARY 2022 Mikiel Galea Letters & Clarifications Neutral Malta SIR, this so-called rash defence editor of the London Telegraph the other day forgot, or obviously does not know, that Malta is a full member state of the EU! It is a fact that no country, including Russia, does not any world wars. Russia invaded Ukraine, which strategically touches its border, and Ukraine was historically part of Russia before. Russia does not want to see a Nato base in Ukraine touching its border. The USA had argued, and acted on same security terms, when in the early 1960s, President Fidel Castro invited Russia to have a military base in Cuba. On the other hand, our country is obviously different to Ukraine as Malta is a full member state of the EU. We have it firmly enshrined in our Consti- tution that we are a neutral, peaceful country, and will never play host to any warships, or have any military bases by any foreign powers. That is the great difference between Malta and Ukraine. The threat of military invasion of Malta by any foreign power would surely be a reality if Malta ever has a Nato base or HQ. Jean Agius Attard Stopping gas addiction ONE of the most powerful tools the EU has to support Ukraine would be to stop paying for Russian gas. As we saw in Europe, politicians are afraid to do this because the EU de- pends on Russia to keep the lights on – 40% of the EU's gas is imported from Russia. The truth is gas supplies will always be impacted by geo-political tensions and the best way to remove this obsta- cle is switching to renewable energy, like wind and solar that can never be controlled so heavily by any single state. Our problem is simple: Europe is addicted to fossil gas, despite it making big money for some very big polluters. Now with rising prices, millions of Europeans could be driven to energy poverty, apart from the fact that the continued use of fossil gas is fuelling the climate crisis. When will EU states end their reliance on expensive, im- ported gas? Europe's deep gas dependency is impacting its citizens, the future of the planet and limiting its ability to shield from geopolitical threats. Only rich polluters, those in Russia too, stand to benefit from the status quo. European leaders should be putting in place plans to get Europe off gas as quickly as possible. Marjatta Virtanen, Berlin