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6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR Matthew Vella mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 MAY 2022 Ukraine needs more than just 'thoughts and prayers' Editorial IN a veritable case of national embarrassment, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy last Tuesday found himself correcting the Speaker of the House Anglu Farrugia, for referring to the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine as "a conflict" rather than a "war". But while this wrong choice of words, by Malta's third ranking constitutional figure head, could well have been a slip of the tongue: it also reflected the mood of Malta's parliament in general. Despite speeches which conveyed a strong message of solidarity towards Ukraine, both Prime Minister Abela and Opposition leader Bernard Grech failed to adequately convey the sense of urgency, or any forceful condemnation of Vladimir Putin's actions. This suggests that while Malta is keen on pro- viding humanitarian assistance, there is a sense of hesitancy in calling out the aggressor for what constitutes not just an affront to international law; but also, widespread war-crimes against Ukrainian civilians. While Grech was the most forceful in condemn- ing the Russian invasion, his repeated reference to his party's role in the EPP – and his reminder that Metsola is also a PN MEP – sounded parochial, and irrelevant to the bigger picture. On his part, Abela's final assurance to Zelenskyy that "our thoughts and prayers are with you", and that that the "Maltese government and the Maltese people are by your side", sounded underwhelming, at best. 'Thoughts and prayers' hardly make a differ- ence to people living under constant bombardment. This suggests that Malta is more of a concerned bystander, than a strong voice against aggression. For while our constitutional neutrality does pre- clude Malta from providing military assistance, it does not in any way impinge on our duty to stand up for the values we cherish, by taking a strong moral stance. Indeed, it is our voice which counts most in international politics. Moreover, Malta itself is already branded an 'un- friendly' state by Russia; and we can't simply walk away from the reality of being part of a Union which is currently funding weapons being used by Ukraine to defend itself. This means that we are not merely 'bystanders waving the Ukraine flag'; but active par- ticipants in the war between Russia and Ukraine. On another level, Malta also seems reluctant to pay the full price of our declared support for Ukraine: as clearly demonstrated by its opposition to the European Commission's proposed ban on the EU shipping industry transporting Russian crude oil. This plan had to be shelved, after protests from shipping register member-states that included Malta. Naturally, one must also acknowledge that there is always a substantial gap between high sounding pronouncements, and realpolitik which often sees individual EU member states defending their own turf. But an affront as egregious as Russia's invasion of Ukraine, cannot but force us to re-evaluate our own certainties. At the very least, the prospect of a prolonged war should also make us consider our own defence needs; as well as possible exposure to Russian retal- iation, which can take various forms: ranging from cyber-attacks and political destabilisation, to out- right military aggression. In this sense, the guaran- tees accorded by the Lisbon treaty to member states, in case of military aggression, need to be beefed up. And while NATO membership may well be a step too far, the idea of a European army – which is fully accountable to both council and parliament – should not be a taboo for a small, vulnerable country like Malta. Death of a journalist On that note, however: one cannot overlook West- ern double standards, and our often selective ap- proach in dealing with wars, human rights violations and conflicts in different parts of the world, particu- larly in the Middle East. The West's deafening silence on the occupation of Palestine is one outstanding example, made only more poignant in recent days, after the shocking murder of Abu Akleh, a Palestinian-American journalist with Al Jazeera, who was shot dead by an Israeli sniper on Wednesday morning. Here, too, Malta has apparently lost its voice: especially when compared with the much stronger stances taken by past Labour and Nationalist ad- ministrations. In fact, PEN Malta – the organisation representing writers and journalists – had to ask Malta's foreign minister Ian Borg to "use all [his] influence, both directly with Israel, as well as on every other international platform, to condemn this killing…" For while Borg himself was quick to express his 'shock' at the incident, he has so far resisted taking a more forceful stand against this brutal crime. Nor is Malta alone in displaying the same hesitan- cy, regarding Israel: unlike the case with Ukraine, Western countries have likewise stopped short of requesting an International Criminal Court prose- cution, for what is tantamount to a war crime. This is unacceptable, for all the reasons explained by PEN president Immanuel Mifsud: "As long as governments like ours keep their eyes closed to these serious violations of international law, jour- nalists will keep getting killed for merely telling the inconvenient truth about Israel." 13 May 2012 50% would vote for decriminalisation of cannabis possession THE majority of respondents to an online poll on MaltaToday.com.mt vote for the decrim- inalisation of possessing small amounts of cannabis. Up until Saturday 12 April at 6pm, a total of 1,439 voted on MaltaToday's online poll on whether they agreed with the decrimi- nalisation of cannabis. Clinical director of Sedqa, Dr George Grech, had repeatedly called for a national debate on to compare the pros and cons of decriminalis- ing cannabis. "Prison is not giving results – it's no secret there are drugs in prison, and we have come to learn that incarceration does not work in people who are purely drug addicts," Grech had said when contacted by MaltaToday in December 2011 while clarifying that he was referring to decriminalisation and no legalisa- tion. Going by MaltaToday's online communi- ty, an overwhelming 715 of the 1,439 voted in favour of decriminalisation of cannabis making up 50% of the total number of votes submitted. However, a quarter of the total readers making up a total of 360 said that tolerating cannabis would be detrimental for Maltese society on both health and criminal aspects. Despite a number of readers disagreeing with the decriminalisation of cannabis, Grech said in some cases, this could prove to be ben- eficial to a country. "I was referring to simple possession cases, not trafficking. I pointed towards the example of Portugal, where all drugs, including heroin and cocaine, were decriminalised. There had been a decrease in drug use as a result." 13% of voters on the online poll, voted no to decriminalising cannabis possession but said fines should be introduced for small amounts of cannabis and not prison sentences. The remaining 12% of readers said yes to decrimi- nalisation but only for medicinal cannabis. Legalise Cannabis Malta spokesman David Caruana said, "One political party that really backs our cause is Alternattiva Demokratika. AD strongly agrees with most of our propos- als. We hope we are nearing decriminalisation of cannabis..." Quote of the Week "We don't have a conflict, we have a war. This is why... torturing and killing isn't happening between Russia and Ukraine, but on our territory." Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the Maltese House of Representatives in a quick retort to the Speaker of the House MaltaToday 10 years ago