Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542275
NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt 18 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 28 DECEMBER 2025 Israeli drone attack exposed Malta's defence weaknesses FOR long now, there has been no political appetite to revisit Malta's constitutional neutrality clause and whether this should be amended or scrapped. We have had the occasion- al flare-up on the issue sparked mainly by international incidents and 2025 was no different in this respect. The continuation of war in Ukraine, suspected Russian at- tacks on undersea infrastructure in the Baltics and the growing voices within the EU to up de- fence spending as America with- draws to its side of the Atlantic Ocean provided the backdrop to the sporadic national debate in the past 12 months. But there was one incident in May 2025, which brought home the stark truth that neutrality on its own is not the magical cloak that shields Malta from calamity. A drone attack on the humani- tarian vessel Conscience, operated by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, exposed Malta's vulnerability to potential threats by ill-meaning actors. Malta was not the intended tar- get of the attack, which happened in international waters just out- side territorial reach. Nonetheless, a civilian ship carrying pro-Pal- estine activists that was waiting to take humanitarian workers on board from Malta was sabotaged at Hurd's Bank. The area is a stra- tegic bunkering zone regularly populated by scores of cargo ves- sels, including oil tankers, waiting at anchor for supplies, personnel or market conditions to improve. The attack was allegedly perpe- trated by the Israeli military using two precision munition drones after an Israeli air force KC-130 Hercules aircraft had earlier in the day carried out patrols on Hurd's Bank, just outside Maltese juris- diction. Israel never claimed re- sponsibility for the attack but it follows similar incidents on other vessels of the flotilla elsewhere. A marine surveyor's report fi- nanced by the government of the stricken humanitarian vessel was never published in its entirety and no international forensic investi- gation of the Conscience was con- ducted. The Maltese Government's in- ability to give a proper, detailed account of the incident, which could have had serious repercus- sions had the drones accidentally targeted an oil tanker, spoke vol- umes. The attack underscored the importance of government taking Malta's security and defence se- riously, something that appeared lacking in light of Prime Minister Robert Abela's belittling of the EU plan to strengthen defence and security across the bloc. The brazen attack on the aid ship ex- posed Malta's vulnerability first- hand. Later in the year, drone sightings over several European airports that disrupted air travel and caused alarm, drove home the point that European countries need to step up aerial surveil- lance, detection and interception of drones. The Ukraine war has showcased the strategic impor- tance of drones on the battlefield. Back on the home front, though, the debate on defence never took off. There was no public reassur- ance that measures would be tak- en to beef up security of Malta's skies and its strategic subsea in- frastructure—data and electricity cables. A strategic review of the Armed Forces of Malta's defence capabil- ities to identify the gaps and deter- mine how these could be filled was never announced. This is another matter from 2025 characterised by unfinished business, or rather business that has not even started. Within an evolving EU security and defence scenario, Malta's own security should be a priority in the months and years to come. And yet, the likeliness is that the debate will fizzle away from the nation- al agenda only to resurface when some major incident occurs that could have domestic relevance. But even then, the debate over the need for better and smarter investment in defence as part of an EU-wide strategy, will likely be smothered by the neutrality clause that still interprets the world along a rigid bipolar axis—the American and Soviet Union superpowers— that no longer exists. Indeed, the Soviet Union is no more, China is a superpower as much as the US and Russia, and since the neutrali- ty clause was inserted in the Con- stitution, Malta joined the EU, which is increasingly developing into a defence and security union. In 2025, it took one incident close to home to expose Malta's defence weaknesses. Whether it has served the country a lesson, is a debate for another time. The damage done to the front part of the aid ship by two drone attacks as it was anchored just outside Maltese territorial waters on Hurd's Bank When fertility became an economic flashpoint IN 2025, a topic once confined to health desks, academic con- ferences and social pages leapt into the centre of Malta's eco- nomic narrative. For decades, discussions about low birth rates in Malta had fo- cused narrowly on health and reproductive matters, such as IVF access and genetic screen- ing. But over the past year, low fertility became framed not merely as a social or medical issue but as an economic crisis demanding government inter- vention. This was the year fer- tility went from just a private matter to a national economic issue with real stakes for Malta's future. In September, Finance Minis- ter Clyde Caruana called Mal- ta's fertility rate "the greatest challenge of our time". By late October, the government used the 2026 budget to make fertil- ity a headline economic issue, introducing sweeping income tax cuts for parents, particu- larly those with two or more children. Under the new meas- ures, parents with two or more children will, by 2028, pay no income tax on the first €30,000 of earnings. Caruana first set the scene by sounding the alarm on "ethnic extinction" before the budget and later described the tax cut as a means to support families who would like to have a second or third child. It was partly a na- tional survival plan and a social welfare programme. However, fertility is more complex than a tax cut, and many warned that focusing on financial incentives alone risks oversimplifying deep social shifts. The Malta Women's Lobby argued early in 2025 that tax breaks were insufficient unless paired with broader reforms ad- dressing work-life balance and gender equity. Young Maltese questioned whether money would over- come the real barriers to family formation—housing costs, long work hours and lifestyle choices. Malta's total fertility rate is among the lowest in the Euro- pean Union, around 1.06 births per woman, half the replace- ment rate. Meanwhile, Malta's workforce and pension systems are under pressure as a larger share of the population ages. Inward migration has been masking population stagna- tion, but policymakers now ac- knowledge that immigration alone cannot indefinitely offset low fertility. These economic concerns helped shift the fertil- ity lens from personal choice to public economic variable. The government has already launched a Social Plan for the Family 2025-2030, with over 70 actions and recently, the Health Ministry announced young adults can now freeze their eggs and sperm through the public health services to later be used for IVF. The Nationalist Party has also put forward measures, includ- ing a year of paid parental leave funded by the government and a direct investment scheme for every child born. Though 2025 was the year the issue broke into mainstream economic discourse, fertility will continue to be analysed in the years to come. Whether there's time to turn back the clock is yet to be seen. 2025 was the year fertility went from just a private matter to a national economic issue with real stakes for Malta's future LOOKING BACK 2025