Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1493590
15 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 26 FEBRUARY 2023 NEWS True. Athletic. Grit. ELITE, on MaltaToday Facebook, Mondays 5pm tions round, with even financial aid that however does not go for mil- itary purposes, is appreciated by the victim of this war. To me that is what is important: that Ukraine knows that we stuck our neck out for them, within the parameters of our constitutional neutrality." Borg said Malta was active in con- sulting actors like the United States when it came to the deflagging of Russian-owned ships from its mar- itime register, to convince other major registries to also deflag the ships as they transited to a new flag state. But he also added that Malta has attempted to deflect the deficit of certain sanctions that punish states that follow the rules. "We said that we need a global regime, otherwise all the Malta-deflagged ships would end up moving to Liberia or Pana- ma... we do not want to be placed under undue pressure, and that goes the same for similar players like Greece and Cyprus. And in Brussels, this is well understood and they appreciate our concerns." The Netherlands this week also said it wants the EU to move to qualified majority voting – which gives larger states more votes on restricted areas – in the matters of sanctions, human rights, and civil- ian EU missions, so that the EU can apply uniform economic power against countries – like Russia – that use aggression. But Borg said it was not just Mal- ta, but a host of other countries that would oppose such a proposal. "In principle we disagree with giv- ing more power to Brussels – that is our position, and of many other countries. QMV would remove the power of Malta to veto a decision that would affect it negatively, al- lowing the countries with more votes to ride roughshod. But we are not trying to be spoilers... we have shown to be constructive partners." neutrality not up for discussion, says Ian Borg