Nothing has changed Evarist Bartolo was right in his piece ‘The Maltese were nothing’ (March 31). The various speeches he quoted are evidence of the matter-of-fact way Malta was treated by its masters. He then moved on to speak of the virtues, etc., of neutrality – a subject debated intermittently in the past. People speak of neutrality as if simply being neutral builds a defensive wall around you. Ukraine was neutral. You might say: “Who on earth is going to invade Malta?” True, nobody is – nothing worth invading for. Malta’s strategic position is no longer relevant. I remember Muammar Gaddafi rattling sabres over oil drilling rights in Maltese waters. I often wonder what would have happened had he persisted. Would our fighter jets have taken to the sky and would the Maltese fleet have weighed anchors and sailed into battle? Would our armed forces have been standing-to to repel the madman? It’s a bit like two people trying to get to each other and you are standing in between. How do you stop being trampled if you, or an ally of yours, cannot intervene? Malta’s only ally is the EU, who throws the odd crumb now and again to help build a (badly constructed) new road in exchange...
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