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14 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 FEBRUARY 2023 NEWS MALTA'S position to opt out of the EU's defence and military cooperation pro- ject, PESCO, remains unchanged despite Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Foreign Minister Ian Borg defends this position (see story adjacent), insisting there is no reason to change the status quo. He insists the Maltese people's voice was the loudest on Malta's neutrality, adding this did not stop the country from saying what was right and wrong on the international stage. PESCO is not an army or military alli- ance but when it was set up in December 2017, Malta and Denmark had been the only member states to opt out. Austria, Ireland, Finland and Sweden, the other four neutral or non-aligned EU countries had also joined. Then Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had said Malta will adopt a wait and see attitude to understand how PESCO evolves and determine whether it contra- dicts the country's neutrality. However, he had also said that he did not foresee any particular neutrality-related issue. The stand enjoyed support from then Opposition leader Adrian Delia, although former PN leader Simon Busuttil had ar- gued in favour of Malta's participation. Now, with Denmark voting in a ref- erendum to join the project, Malta will be the only member state not participating. The Permanent Structured Cooper- ation (PESCO) is the part of the EU's security and defence policy in which 25 of the 27 national armed forces pursue structural integration. Projects vary from the joint develop- ment of military hardware to the pooling of resources to purchase defence equip- ment. Jean Claude Cachia, a senior lecturer at the University of Malta's Institute for European Studies, believes that a debate surrounding PESCO should also be part of a wider debate on the status and role of Malta's neutrality. "Whilst Malta has participated in nu- merous peace keeping programmes, its foreign policy is based on neutrality. With the conflict in Ukraine, two neutral countries Sweden and Finland, decided to apply to join NATO, ditching decades – in Sweden's case centuries – of neutral- ity," Cachia says. He observes that the Nordic countries' decision was primarily done due the threat which Russia poses to the region. But while acknowledging that Malta does not face a similar threat, he notes that even if it remains out of PESCO, it can still be directly affected by the conflict due to the Mutual Defence Clauses of the European Union. Cachia points out that Articles 42.7 of the Treaty of the European Union and Article 222 of Treaty on the Functioning of the EU oblige states to "show solidar- ity to other EU member states in case of aggression". The clauses were used by Muscat to jus- tify the fact that Malta will not be missing out on any security guarantees by re- maining out of PESCO but it does raise the question as to why Malta should de- prive itself of military cooperation when it is obliged to show solidarity if another EU country suffers aggression. A perception of indifference For retired colonel David Attard, a for- mer deputy commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, it is "not in Malta's best security and defence interests to opt out of PESCO". PESCO deepens defence and security cooperation between EU member states, he says, adding it allows "able and willing EU member states to, on a voluntary ba- sis, jointly develop defence capabilities, invest in shared projects, and enhance the operational readiness and contribu- tion of their armed forces to the wider defence and security needs of the indi- vidual member states and the EU itself". Attard says that not all the collaborative projects undertaken under this initiative may be of direct relevance to Malta and to its armed forces but he argues that po- litically Malta's non-participation "may be perceived as indifference". He says that the the EU has long felt the need for common capability develop- ment to support the Common Security and Defence Policy operations and mis- sions. "The invasion of Ukraine has further highlighted the need to strengthen Eu- rope's security and defence and to help reach the level of ambition the EU ex- pressed in its Global Strategy," Attard says, adding that Europe cannot remain totally dependent on the USA for its de- fence and security needs. He notes that the EU respects the fact that participation in PESCO is without prejudice to the specific character of the security and defence policy of certain EU member states such as Malta. "There is no pressure on our country to join this initiative," Attard says, insisting that any such decision rests with the Maltese gov- ernment and what it considers to be the best interest of the country. In a changed geopolitical environment where Europe's security and defence have come under pressure as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, KURT SANSONE asks whether Malta should join the EU's military cooperation project, PESCO Neutrality here to stay, despite Malta's uncompromising stand on Russian aggression as president of the Security Council Safeguarding neutrality and indifference: the decision to opt out of EU military cooperation MATTHEW VELLA United Nations, New York IN a week dominated by Malta's stewardship of the Security Council's debate on the anni- versary of the Russian invasion in Ukraine, foreign minister Ian Borg has laid down an uncompromising line against Russian aggres- sion in his speeches at the United Nations. Malta put its full weight behind the EU's po- sition for the full withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukraine, but also for the Russian leader- ship to face prosecution in the International Criminal Court for war crimes, as it presided the UN Security Council this week. Despite its vocal stance, Borg still believes that Malta's constitutional neutrality is not up for discussion as far as military alliances go, even when countries like neutral Ireland are augmenting participation in PESCO, the EU's group of Nato and non-Nato member states that discusses defence matters. "We have embraced our neutrality in an ac- tive manner in the case of Ukraine: it means we are not afraid of saying what is right, and what isn't," when asked in an interview after presiding over a Security Council session. But Borg said it was apparent to him that it was te Maltese people's voice that was the loudest on Malta's neutrality. "In meetings with neutral countries like Ireland and Aus- tria, who are not part of Nato, we compare notes on the general public's feeling about neutrality. And I get the feeling that it's the same story for all of us... I feel the majority of the Maltese country sees itself as being secure through our neutrality." The heat from the war in Ukraine, as Borg described it, had now informed the decisions of Finland and Sweden to start Nato mem- bership. "Will that ever happen in Malta? This is a position that is also based on the popular will of the people we represent, and both parties in the House do not believe Mal- ta has to change its position to edge it closer to a military alliance." Borg said Malta had clearly recognised that there was one aggressor and one victim in the war, informing the Maltese parliament's step to host Ukrainian president Volydymyr Zelenskyy. "Malta's active participation in every sanc- Maltese neutrality discussion,