Do you know how difficult it is for one administration to overturn the decisions of the previous one?

It only happened twice on this level: EU membership negotiations, and Partnership for Peace membership.

The former happened immediately. The latter took years.

And in both cases, the administration was led by a sober, level-headed statesman of the old school.

In postmodern media-drunk plutocratic Malta, I’m not holding out much hope. Besides, the European spirit has died, including within the hearts of those who claim to have fought for our place in Europe.

Most of the terrorist acts are carried out by disenfranchised EU citizens who were born and bred in European Union member states, second or even third generation descendants of mostly Maghreb immigrants.

Suspending the Schengen rules will not solve anything. It will only put another spoke in the wheel of the European integration process, the major development in peaceful regional governance in recent history.

Both.

Does suspending Schengen mean that everyone, including EU citizens, entering Malta needs a passport or does it also mean that all Maltese passport holders are not allowed to travel throughout EU without a passport?

http://www.ilgiornale.it/news/politica/malta-nuova-base-jihadista-4-fermati-nei-nostri-aeroporti-1197213.html

‘….A proposito di Malta, ieri l’inglese Independent riportava frasi piuttosto sconcertanti dell’ex premier (quadriennio 83-87) Karmenu Mifsud Bonnici, secondo il quale «se Malta consente alle navi francesi di entrare nei suoi porti, deve consentire di entrare anche alle navi provenienti dallo Stato islamico. Non possiamo trattare alcuni Paesi come alleati e altri come nemici». Valanga di commenti increduli sul sito del quotidiano…..’

What’s worrying is that Il Giornale’s suspicions are pretty much our own; we may be more than just a back door, more like a financial hub for Isis money.

‘..Secondo un altro scenario l’isola potrebbe essere, o rischia di diventare, un luogo di deposito fondi sotto copertura, o di riciclaggio, del sempre più ricco impero di Al Baghdadi. Potrebbe essere insomma un «comodo hub finanziario», valuta Arturo Varvelli, ricercatore dell’Ispi (Istituto per gli studi di politica internazionale), esperto di terrorismo. Un punto di appoggio «logistico e organizzativo» anche per procurarsi «documenti falsi», un’attività in cui purtroppo l’Italia primeggia….’

Perhaps Muscat and Renzi have a little chat. Given that Malta is the only EU member state with a de facto consul for Libya’s Daesh, that’s Tripoli, it’s rather urgent.

You don’t ‘out’ people who have spoken to you in confidence. It’s completely wrong.