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maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MARCH 2025 4 INTERVIEW Thomas Bajada: 'Rise of far-right stems from people feeling Europe does not care about their story' The rise of extremist politics stems from EU citizens feeling that their concerns are not being heard, Labour MEP Thomas Ba- jada believes. "They feel Europe does not care about their story. Why? Because diplomats and politicians enter the so-called Brussels bubble […] and you get the sense that all they talk about are issues they face," he tells me. A relative newcomer to politics, but an experienced navigator of European institu- tions, he sits down with me to discuss life in Brussels, the EU's relationship with Donald Trump's America, and his latest initiatives. The interview was filmed days before the European Commission announced its Re- Arm Europe package. Bajada insists that one of his top priorities is putting matters that affect people onto the European agenda. "Even during the election campaign, my main message was clear – people's stories are an essential part of my story," he tells me. On the ever-changing geopolitical land- scape, which continues to shift under the Trump presidency, Bajada concedes that the European Union (EU) faces one of the biggest challenges in its history. "The United States was and will remain one of the world's superpowers, and the fact that it seems to be trying to undermine the EU is problematic," he insists. With increased military spending on the EU agenda, Bajada questions whether this will result in cuts to social and cohesion budgets. "The question that needs to be asked is: Where will we get the billions from?" he says. Bajada believes the issue of defence is mul- ti-faceted and something Malta should not ignore. "I think the first thing we must ad- dress is that when we speak about defence, we think of missiles but tend to forget a crucial aspect of modern warfare – cyber- attacks. I ask you one thing: Is Malta able to defend itself from attacks of this nature? I am not speaking about the EU; I am speak- ing about Malta," the Labour MEP says. He argues that an island like Malta, which is continually digitising itself, would be particularly susceptible to such attacks on its infrastructure. "What will we do if something happens to that digital infrastructure? I think it's important to start discussing how we will defend ourselves from contemporary threats," Bajada says. Turning his attention to the EU, he ques- tions where the funding for increased de- fence spending will come from. "I think it is important to look at the Eu- ropean budget and ask where that funding will come from. What will we spend less on? And normally, the first budgets that are cut are cohesion funding, which Malta de- pends on, and social funding, which is very important," he says. Labour MEP Thomas Bajada believes the rise of extremist politics stems from citizens feeling unheard. He sits down with KARL AZZOPARDI to discuss his priorities, the shifting political landscape in the EU, and the challenges facing smaller states like Malta.