Tonio Borg's brother is in Libya – so how can he negotiate?
EU member states are discussing sanctions against Gaddafi but have run up against objections from Italy and Malta, several news agencies have reported.
The reasons cited are fear of Gaddafi ‘unleashing’ illegal immigrants (as if he is in a position to do so now) and commercial interests in Libya (on which Malta and Italy don’t have a monopoly).
The Maltese government has denied the reports, saying that it’s the other way round: that 25 countries have objected and two are in favour (though they are not Italy and Malta).
In these matters, perception is 90% of the game, so Malta’s foreign minister should bear in mind that the integrity and sincerity of his stance will be in doubt as long as his younger brother remains in Libya as a potential hostage or victim of reprisal, while advertising his location on Facebook (smart move, that).
I cannot for the life of me understand why these things have to be pointed out to grown men of a certain education who are also seasoned politicians.
But just in case, let me spell it out again.
The foreign minister of an EU member state, who has a younger brother still in Libya and unable or unwilling to return, is in no position to sit at the negotiating table with other foreign ministers and discuss sanctions against that country.
But if he thinks he can take a stance in Malta’s name without letting personal considerations encumber him – and he probably can – then at least he should flag the fact that his brother is there.
It’s bad enough that we’re lumped with EU Commissioner John ‘Libya’ Dalli in this bloody (literally) mess.
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Punt tajjeb, imma ghal darb ohra zball tattiku. Il-fatt li hemm hu Tonio Borg fil-Libja hu vantagg ghall-bosta haddiema ohra Maltin (hemm mijiet) li marru hemm biex jaqalghu il-hobza ta kulljum bhal ma marru eluf kbar ta Torok, Egizzjani, Taljani, Bangaldeshis, u Filippini.
Bis-sahha ta’ hu l-ministru, l-gvern Malti isisti izjed biex dawn il-persuni ma jigrilhom xejn li jipperikolahom hajjithom u jigu lura safe.
Gaddafi hu bhima kbira imma gurdien xih. Trid tahdmu tohorgu mit-toqba bil-hlewwa. Imma Gaddafi hu psycho paranoiku. Jekk idahhal suspett f’mohhu li l-Maltin huma tradituri jibda jispara bl-addocc fuqhom u joqtolhom bla hniena u jkun hemm banju ta’ demm.
Din hi bhal loghba chess.
As if Gaddafi is going to be influenced by any Borg. Mhux hekk. Did you not say that he is a paranoid psycho? Enough said.
Mela min tridu jmur jiggieled biex jinhelsu l-haddiema Maltin trappolati fil-Libja? Il-Moviment Graffiti? Jew il-gurnalisti tat-Times? Rigward policies ghandek ragun li Gaddafi jigi jaqa u jqum. Imma dwar trattativi ta’ helsien tal-haddiema Maltin, dik storja ohra. Din hi l-kwistjoni urgenti issa.
Ma nahsibx li l-ebda Malti huwa xi genju tal-geopolitika, specjalment hu Tonio Borg. L-uniku bniedem li jista’ jghid kelmtejn bis-sens, Stephen Calleya, qed jigi injorat minn kullhadd.
How can anybody take somebody seriously when they change the way their name is spelled, from Calleja to Calleya?
Kretin. Dak twieled il-Canada. Il-veru imbecilli jekk ma tafx min hu Stephen Calleya.
“The foreign minister of an EU member state, who has a younger brother still in Libya and unable or unwilling to return, is in no position to sit at the negotiating table with other foreign ministers and discuss sanctions against that country.”
“Gaddafi hu bhima kbira imma gurdien xih. Trid tahdmu tohorgu mit-toqba bil-hlewwa. Imma Gaddafi hu psycho paranoiku. Jekk idahhal suspett f’mohhu li l-Maltin huma tradituri jibda jispara bl-addocc fuqhom u joqtolhom bla hniena u jkun hemm banju ta’ demm.”
Daphne, you gave away an innocent person who is still in danger of being taken hostage before boarding a plane or a ship. Why didn’t you write for whom he’s working and the location where he was staying?
Have you ever been kept in an Arab country for hours on end during peacetime waiting in some dirty room for your passport to be cleared?
If I were you I would remove this comment from here, Dr Borg’s brother can be targeted by some passport control officer.
[Daphne – The foreign minister’s brother is a grown man (my age, in fact) and certainly not my responsibility. My responsibility is to tell people that the foreign minister is compromised in his dealings with Gaddafi by the continued presence of his brother in Libya. It is important for people here to know this, so that they may assess the foreign minister’s comments and behaviour in the appropriate context. The Libyan secret service does not need me to tell them who or where this man is, and certainly not that he is the Maltese foreign minister’s brother. The Libyan security service knows everyone about everyone within its territory, and also spies on Libyan expatriates.]
“The Libyan secret service does not need me to tell them who or where this man is, and certainly not that he is the Maltese foreign minister’s brother.“
How would you know that the information is still available. You are assuming a lot, careless talk costs lives.
[Daphne – No, John, careless behaviour costs lives, and I’m not referring to myself.]
It could be that the Libyan Secret Service information system is down and they are relying on what is being written on the internet.
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/education/homefront/spies/publicity/source2.htm
In this cacophony he could have ‘escaped’ unnoticed , but now you are giving him away on a silver plate.
[Daphne – He could have escaped unnoticed? I don’t think so. How do you think I found out he’s there: FROM FACEBOOK. If not even he is bothering to hide his presence there, why must I.]
You saw him on Facebook because someone gave him away to you. Your commentary here is being specific on Dr Tonio Borg’s brother, in FB he’s lost in the crowd of the other Borg’s. You say you don’t do FB, someone told you about him and you’re spreading the word.
If someone wants to put himself in danger you should not make it easier for him to be in danger.
[Daphne – John, I’m a journalist, not a nanny. Nobody pointed him out to me. I know him. We’re the same age.]
Mohh il-haddiema Maltin ghandu Gaddafi bhalissa!
Hemm aspett iehor veru serju: il-Farnesina Taljana qed tbassar li fi ftit gimghat ohra se jkun hemm ezodu ta’ bejn 200,000 u 300,000 emigrant.
Punt nevralgiku dan. L-idjoti xenofobi Maltin se jaghmlu kapital minnha. Naraw il-futur president tal-Ewropa kif se jagixxi.
Nahseb imnalla Malta u l-Italja ghandhom interessi fil-Libja, ghax dawn jaghtuna vantagg biex jinstab tarf il-kobba mhabbla. Madankollu jien xorta xi ftit pessimist ghax donnu il-grajjiet gejjin bhal mewga cumm bumm.
Some light humour at the Colonel’s expense:
http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/qaddafi-slideshow200908
These people are so far up Gaddafi’s arse that when he laughs I expect to see the top of their heads.
There will be no sanctions against any of the North African dictators or other states – as long as the IDEX 2011 fair is open in Abu Dhabi. Which is until the end of this week.
IDEX = International Defence Exhibition & Conference.
This is where weapons and armaments are sold by members of the European Union (and other countries that manufacture weapons) to anybody and this is HUGE money we are talking about.
And it’s not good for business to proclaim sanctions while the buyers are out, is it. Let’s see – the leaders of the European countries will all throw a pity party for the poor suppressed people of North Africa. And then, next week, when the fair is over, there will be sanctions. Not before.
The usual selective memory. Every country worth its salt has a weapons industry, including many of your third world darlings: India, China, Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, Malysia, Jordan, the lot.
In fact European firms find it incredibly difficult to sell, because they require end user certicates and safeguards and a tonne of administrative and legal restrictions.
Besides, IDEX is not like immorru sat-Trade Faur where you have to buy the fridge on the spot. The deal can be made elsewhere. IDEX is just the exhibition.
Let me put it this way, Katrin: European foreign policy has been hijacked by the naive belief that trading with the third world would lift it out of poverty. What if they want to buy weapons? Do we treat them as equal partners and go ahead, as anti-racist sentiment demands? Or do we say: No, you cannot buy weapons even if the request comes from your legitimate government because we don’t trust you to act as decent human beings?
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1359712/It-wrong-sell-arms-says-David-Cameron-defends-sale-weapons-Middle-East.html
Says it all.
Hear, hear. And it is about bl**dy time that 40-somethings relaise the implications of what they deem to be simple, innocuous comments on Facebook, which are visible to all and sundry, the world over, sometimes causing embarrassing siutations at the very least, and dangerous ones at worst.
Good insight into Libya and Gaddafi, and what the future there might be like, by US Journalist Benjamin R Barber. Rather worrying.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/benjamin-r-barber/libya-gadhafi-future_b_826718.html
I’m afraid that both Tonio Borg and John Dalli failed as ministers for foreign affairs. Maybe our prime minister should think twice before appointing his ministers.
If you think this lot is bad, you should see what’s on offer on the other side.
“JOhn Azzopardi(22 hours, 53 minutes ago)Protest are good if they are fruitful and productive. What do you think s a small noisy protest is going to do in Malta except bring us unwanted attention. The only way to bring down Gaddafi is if the world unite like they did for the egyptians. I also say that dictators should always go and am sure this one will too. But we as a small island need to be careful. What if a fighter jet comes to Malta and starts bombing Malta. Who do you think is going to our defence. Talk…….”
Why do many Maltese harbour this secret fantasy of us being bombed?
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110223/local/virtu-catamarans-expected-to-evacuate-americans-from-tripoli
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-gaddafi-raved-and-cursed-but-he-faces-forces-he-cannot-control-2222904.html
Daphne, this morning I was listening to the newspaper review on Campus FM and the analyst quoted this piece as well, saying that it was not from the newspapers but from http://www.daphnecaruanagalizia.com.