I don’t imagine that our Tweeting Prime Minister will be tweeting about this

Air Malta starts its direct flights to Algiers in March last year after a trial run the previous summer. By a really AMAZING coincidence, that’s the month that Malta opens a consulate in that country (and city), and by an even more amazing coincidence, the consul is Robert Falzon, the prime minister’s first cousin once removed.

In the space of the following 18 months, Malta issues Schengen visas to almost 7,000 Algerians who fly to Malta on those Air Malta flights and then disappear into the rest of Europe, most of them never even leaving Malta International Airport until they get the next flight out. Air Malta’s flights back out to Algiers are, as a result, almost empty while the flights from Algiers are full.

The prime minister tries to justify the vast number of visas granted to Algerians – how many Algerians have you seen in Malta in the last 18 months? – who then move on to other EU member states by saying that almost half of all applicants are turned down.

Imagine if they were not: that would be a truly stunning record of around 14,000 Algerians bouncing around France or other parts of Europe with Schengen visas issued by Malta in just 18 months. The prime minister’s cousin was recalled to Malta just a few weeks before the scandal broke. But the prime minister is busy tweeting about Joe Cassar instead.