Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1546553
of thinking. Meanwhile, at a global level, my findings indicat- ed three broad fault lines quite vividly: Tensions over econom- ic inequality and development; grievances concerning Western policies regarding the Middle East; as well as perspectives on Ukraine. Picking up on this latter point, Russia's discourse through- out the speeches studied was perhaps the most clear and consistent demonstration of status-based grievances. Essen- tially, Russian grievances read so: If the West (meaning, the US and NATO) are permitted to behave in a certain way then so can they. Russia both criti- cises Western 'exceptionalism' and copies it. In this way, Russia gives itself the status of a global champion against what is de- scribes as Western imperialism and double standards, while el- evating itself to the same status. What next? All in all, these limited observa- tions represent a snapshot of my research focusing specifically on a few drivers of the uncertainty that defines our world today—a shift in the distribution of pow- er, antagonism, and competition over status. For the moment, in- ternational politics appears to be caught in a spiral of uncertain- ty and there are few indications that things will change any time soon. Quite the contrary, unless key players rethink their foreign policy approaches things will only worsen, and the risk that key players miscalculate, taking things too far is very real. Argu- ably we have already seen hints of what this could look like in recent years with the invasion of Ukraine, the situation in Gaza, and Iran. Until then, the only thing we can be sure of is that uncertainty will remain the only certainty. The author graduated with a PhD in politics from the Univer- sity of Reading. This article is a snapshot of the research under- taken by the author as part of his doctoral thesis titled, Is Global Order Dysfunctional? An Anal- ysis Of UN General Assembly Speeches On Behalf Of The Mem- bers Of The G20. The research was funded by the Tertiary Edu- cation Scholarship Scheme of the Government of Malta. 5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 SEPTEMBER 2026 OPINION Daphne's murder remains a European test of the rule of law world is David Casa Head Maltese delegation in the EPP Group BUSINESSMAN Yorgen Fenech has been acquitted of complicity in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The verdict is an obscene miscarriage of justice, ex- traordinarily difficult to rec- oncile with the volume of ev- idence presented during the proceedings. It cannot close the European conversation about Daphne's murder, the corruption she exposed or the institutional failures that sur- rounded her assassination. Almost nine years after a journalist was blown up in an EU member state for doing her job, the Maltese justice system has failed so catastrophically that the man accused of com- missioning her murder is now a free man. The men who carried out the assassination are behind bars. The suppliers of the bomb have been convicted. The middleman admitted his involvement and identified the person he said commis- sioned the killing. Yet nobody has been convicted of order- ing Daphne Caruana Galizia's murder. For the EPP Group, this can- not be where the story ends. Daphne's assassination was never simply a Maltese crimi- nal case. It became a European test—whether the European Union can defend democra- cy, press freedom and the rule of law when they come under attack inside one of its own member states. An independent public in- quiry established that the Maltese State must bear re- sponsibility for Daphne's as- sassination. It found that a culture of impunity, gener- ated at the highest levels of government, spread through the country's institutions and created the circumstances in which her murder became possible. The Fenech trial exposed the consequences of those fail- ures. Delayed searches, evidence that was not secured when it should have been, leaks and failures to properly investigate individuals close to political power all became part of the defence case. Serious ques- tions were raised about pow- erful third parties and the au- thorities' failure to investigate them with the urgency and rigour required. There is a bitter irony here. The State's failure to estab- lish the full picture, secure evidence and properly investi- gate powerful individuals was then used to create doubt in the courtroom. Institutional failure became part of the de- fence. The possibility that others were involved in Daphne's murder should have widened the search for responsibility. It should never have become a route to obscuring individual responsibility. Nor can the events that fol- lowed Daphne's assassination be ignored. Evidence was con- cealed. Justice was obstructed. Individuals close to the high- est levels of political power benefited from treatment that ordinary citizens could nev- er expect. The responsibility for those failures lies squarely with the Maltese State. There are reports that the acquittal will be appealed. That is the very least that should happen. Every legal avenue capable of correcting this outcome must be rigor- ously pursued. But this case has exposed something larg- er than one verdict. A justice system that can spend almost nine years investigating and prosecuting the assassination of a journalist of international significance, only for the pro- cess to end in such a shambles, is plainly not functioning as it should. Malta's justice system re- quires urgent reform. The failures exposed here go to the state's ability to investi- gate powerful people, preserve evidence and deliver justice where political and economic interests collide. That is not merely a Maltese concern. Malta is a member state of the European Union. When Daphne was killed, she was investigating the inter- section between corruption, political power and powerful business interests. She was killed to stop her work. Almost nine years later, prosecuting the corruption she exposed re- mains an essential part of de- livering justice. Europe there- fore has a responsibility too. The assassination of a jour- nalist investigating corruption is not simply a national trage- dy. It is an attack on European democracy. There can be no tolerance for political connections shielding individuals from scrutiny, no acceptance of compromised investigations and no normal- isation of impunity when jour- nalists are threatened or killed because of the truths they un- cover. Every credible lead into the wider conspiracy must be pursued. Evidence given un- der oath must be rigorously scrutinised. Anyone who ob- structed or compromised the investigation must face ac- countability. And the corrup- tion Daphne was killed to stop her from exposing must finally be prosecuted. The European Commission must continue to insist on effective institutions, inde- pendent law enforcement and genuine rule-of-law reform in Malta. The European Parlia- ment must continue to scru- tinise Malta's record and keep Daphne's case firmly on the European agenda. A criminal trial has ended. Europe's re- sponsibility has not. Justice for Daphne is about whether the European Union means what it says when it promises to defend democra- cy, press freedom and the rule of law. For the EPP Group, there can be no ambiguity. It must.