Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1471699
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 JUNE 2022 OPINION 11 The spillover effects of sanctions it. From that moment on, abortion is no longer considered such a big 'No-No', that Maltese doctors are even willing to endan- ger a woman's life, to avoid having to per- form one. Miraculously, it now becomes precisely the sort of 'simple, straightforward' med- ical procedure that is routinely offered by every hospital in the civilised world… ex- cept Malta, of course. Not only that, but – one helluvan irony coming right up, folks! - it is also the exact same procedure that Ms Prudente herself had originally gone to Mater Dai to re- ceive, all those weeks earlier! You know: the termination of an unviable (and highly risky) pregnancy… as any patient would after all rightly expect, from any modern hospital, anywhere in Europe (preferably, without also being 'held hostage' for three whole weeks: to the point that she actually ended up fearing for her life…) I mean, it really does boggle the mind, doesn't it? Leaving aside the sheer par- adox, of a country which so loudly pro- claims itself to be 'Pro-Life'… but which simultaneously goes so far out of its way, to actively endanger the life of a woman (and even then: for the sake of a foetus that had no realistic chance of survival anyway…) … but there's also the small matter of 'multiple human rights violations', across the full spectrum of the Universal Charter. To be honest, I lost count of the num- ber of times that Andrea Prudente's rights were simply trampled out of existence, at every stage, throughout this entire episode. In fact, it happened so often, you could al- most say they were… well, 'aborted'. To begin with, there is 'wilful denial of vital medical treatment'; then, there's 'withholding access to precise information regarding her own medical condition'. On top of that, Ms Prudente was also 'declared medically unfit to travel'… which not only limited her 'freedom of movement' to the confines of her hospital bed; but also se- riously impacted her ability to 'make her own choices, on a matter that affected her own health'. Naturally, I'll leave it to lawyers to translate all that, into how it might end up looking on a bill of indictment before the European Court of Human Rights. But something tells me the Maltese State should be bracing itself for a barrage of law-suits, in the near future. And that is arguably the least of the government's concerns, right now. Just look, for instance, at how this un- sightly fiasco was covered in the interna- tional press this week. It can be summed up in just one word – again, an Andrea Prudente quote – from a single Euronews headline: 'BARBARIC.' Honestly, though. How would a career diplomat – or the Foreign Minister, for that matter – translate that, I wonder, in terms of the 'damage done to Malta's in- ternational reputation'? But never mind, because: while the im- mediate crisis now appears to be over… the underlying cause remains very em- phatically unresolved. And in all fairness to the individual doctors involved; and to the entire medical profession, as a whole… … it has nothing (or very little, anyway) to do with the 'medical establishment at Mater Dei hospital' at all. This much even emerges from a statement issued by the Malta College of Obstetricians and Gynae- cologists: in particular, its claim that doc- tors always "strive to give the best manage- ment possible, whilst working WITHIN THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK OF OUR COUNTRY." [My emphasis]. Ah, yes. The infamous Article 243 of the Maltese Criminal Code, which states that: "Any physician, surgeon, obstetrician, or apothecary, who shall have knowingly pre- scribed or administered the means where- by the miscarriage is procured, shall, on conviction, be liable to imprisonment for a term from eighteen months to four years, and to perpetual interdiction from the ex- ercise of his profession". In other words, the same old blanket abortion ban that: a) offers no form of written exception, of any kind whatsoev- er: not even to save the mother's life (that 'double-effect principle' I mentioned ear- lier is a theological - NOT a legal – con- cept), and; b) offers no form of protection whatsoever to the medical profession: even in cases where an abortion is deemed necessary, for rather obvious, self-evident health reasons. And oh look: it just happens to be the same law that groups such as 'Doctors For Choice' have been campaigning to amend for the last couple of years… specifical- ly, with a view to ironing out all the same 'grey areas', that give rise to such cases in the first place. And what answer have they always been given, from the only people who can ac- tually change update our archaic laws to the 21st century, once and for all (i.e., our Members of Parliament)? 'Sorry, but no. We will continue to need- lessly endanger women's lives, because…" Yeah, you guessed it: "…because we're 'Pro-Life'…" Frank Psaila is a lawyer specialising in international relations RUSSIA'S invasion of Ukraine has been met by sanctions from the Western world. Short of military action against Russia sanctions, as a sign of political disapproval against the Kremlin's illegal actions, have become the weapon of choice – an attempt to break the Russian war machine. Russia's access to the world econ- omy has been severely restricted. A partial embargo on Russia's oil ex- ports has been imposed by the EU and the US on Russia. We are wit- nessing the biggest ever sanctions programme imposed on a major economy. The country is entering into a state of quasi-isolation from the international economy. The EU is looking at Russian asset seizures. It is estimated that Russia has about $300bn of reserves in the West. An adamant Putin However, Vladimir Putin remains ad- amant. Limited sanctions on Rus- sia in 2014, when the world-imposed sanctions for the invasion of Crimea, did nothing to change the behav- iour of the Kremlin. This time the sanctions are far more severe and wide-ranging, and yet the Kremlin shows no signs of pulling back from Ukraine. Although sanctions and trade embargoes are slowly filter- ing in the Russian economy, their effects on the Russian economy are not yet catastrophic. With a population of more than 146 million people, and a large pro- portion of workers employed by the state, unemployment in Russia re- mains low. To make it difficult for Russians to remove their money from the country, the Bank of Rus- sia has capped exchanges of roubles into dollars and euros at a level of US$10,000. Foreign countries have also been forced to pay for Russian energy products in rubles. Russia is holding up better than initially ex- pected. More money for weapons Since sanctions have been im- posed on Russia, trade with China increased substantially. Last month, China's imports from Russia rose by more than 56%. Rus- sia's exports have risen by more than 8% since the start of the war. An increase in energy prices has also boosted Russia's revenues fur- ther. With its trade surplus on the increase, the Kremlin has been in a better position to finance the war. The long-term view is certainly more uncertain yet the spillover effects of sanctions in the Western world are being felt by millions of consumers. With Russian commodity ex- ports removed from world mar- kets, the result is higher prices affecting millions of consumers around the globe. Sanctions, and an overburdened sup- ply-chain system, have dealt a severe blow to the world economy. Russia is the world's 11th larg- est economy. Rus- sia and Ukraine account for nearly thirty percent of global wheat ex- ports. The war has se- verely impacted grain production leading to huge spikes in global wheat prices. Nearly 40% of the EU's electrici- ty comes from power stations that work on fossil fuels – Russia is the biggest source of that kind of en- ergy. Russia is also a main supplier of metal – pushing the price of car components, and every-day goods – such as metal and aluminium cans upwards. Energy prices in the euro area, in May, rose at an annu- al rate of 39%. Brent crude oil costs about $120 a barrel. As global growth is slow- ing, worries are mounting. Whether the world is heading in- to the 12th global recession since 1900 remains to be seen. The Russian aggression must be firmly resisted. Yet, the effective- ness of the sanctions is being in- creasingly questioned. There are no easy solutions. We are witnessing the biggest ever sanctions programme imposed on a major economy