Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1533342
maltatoday | SUNDAY • 16 MARCH 2025 5 INTERVIEW The following are excerpts from the interview. The full interview can be found on maltatoday.com.mt as well as our Facebook and Spotify pages. PHOTOS: JAMES BIANCHI / MALTA TODAY You mentioned how the far- right is on the rise around the world and in Europe. We saw this in the German elections a couple of weeks ago. One of the biggest talking points remains migration – do you think the left has betrayed people on the issue? This is a discussion we have every week. Apart from representing the Labour Party, I represent the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), which is a centre-left group. The European Parliament elections have clearly shown that trends are shifting to the right, as the majority of seats are now shifting to the right. It is a message we must pay attention to. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to listen to people's pleas. Beyond ideologies, we must ground ourselves and take a step back to listen to what people are complaining about. You mentioned migration; I'll give you another example – the environment. The EU sought to be a global pioneer in environmental protection, and the European Green Deal was Ursula von der Leyen's flagship project during her first mandate. The first thing I said when asked by journalists after my election was to ensure the Green Deal is for the people. European policies are normally drawn up following an impact assessment that ignores the realities of smaller states like ours. Therefore, we are regularly ignored because, except for the veto, we do not have the voting power that larger states have in the European Council. Together with the identi- ty crisis Europe seems to be facing, it faces a reality it has not experienced before, where the US seems to be abandoning its long-standing relationship with the EU. How do you ana- lyse this situation? The debate on the EU's role in geopolitics and calls for increased military spending have been ongoing for years now. There are various debates we can have, but I believe that we should not mix the country's neutrality with what is happening across the globe right now. It is important to further the principles of debate and discussion. What is happening right now will change the face of the earth. But above all else, what worries me the most is the uncertainty. We do not know how the situation will pan out. We saw Trump's comments on how he wants to turn the area [Gaza] into a resort. I think whether Trump will follow through on his state- ments remains to be seen, but it is still worrying to see the US President speaking in that way… Yes, and at the end of the day, 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, as it has always sought to position itself at the forefront of geopolitical issues. On Ukraine, the EU has taken a clear stand in favour of it, and yes, it is important to do so, but we must not forget our region's stability. Another issue which has spurred global debate is the situation in Palestine. It is not necessarily a 'European prob- lem'. It obviously is of concern because we share the same sea, and we have seen people like Roberta Metsola receiving flak for meeting with Israeli lead- ers. We can also see topograph- ical similarities with Malta. Government has said it will recognise Palestine as a state when the conditions are right. How do you feel on the issue? I have always made it clear that we should recognise Palestine as a state. […] Another thing I will say is that in the same way I feel Maltese, I also feel Mediterranean, and we rarely hear this being said. I truly believe in the potential of this region. For thousands of years, the region was a chain of cultures which, one way or another, managed to work with each other. You might tell me it is also one of the most unstable and unpredictable regions, and I agree, because it is in our nature to fight for what we believe in. That is why we feel close to the Palestinians, because culturally we resonate with each other. […] I have said these same things at the European Parliament, but there still seems to be scepticism by other countries about doing this [recognising Palestine as a state].