AS one of the smallest countries in the European Union, Malta likes to portray itself as a modern democracy, and for the most part that image is correct.
Now the Mediterranean country is engulfed in a scandal that has already claimed the jobs of two ministers and top government officials and may yet damage the popular prime minister, Joseph Muscat, himself.
In 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia, one of the country’s top investigative reporters, was killed by a car bomb. She had regularly exposed government corruption and the links between politicians, businesses and organised crime. Having been criticised for their slow approach to the inquiry, Maltese police recently and dramatically stepped up their investigation into the murder. Before she was killed, Caruana Galizia had used the Panama Papers to make serious allegations about tax dodging by ministers. She then alleged that a company called 17 Black, owned by prominent businessman Yorgen Fenech, had links to high-level politicians. In her very last blog, Caruana Galizia wrote about Keith Schembri, chief aide to Muscat. Fenech was arrested on his yacht last week and like an earlier suspect, Melvin Theuma, he has asked for immunity from prosecution to tell what he knows.
Yesterday saw the dramatic resignations of Schembri and tourism minister Konrad Mizzi, while economy minister Chris Cardona suspended himself – all deny wrongdoing.
After news of these developments broke, there was uproar in the Maltese parliament, with calls for Muscat to resign. The session had to be suspended after tempers were lost.
“What is happening now, and what happened last week, is an operation that is hopefully solving the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder,” Muscat said on Tuesday. “Whatever people might say, there is no impunity in this country.”
The European Commission is reported to be monitoring developments.
Slovenia bank law may be illegal, says ECB
SLOVENIA is on a collision course with the European Central Bank (ECB) and the European Union over a new law forcing the country’s central bank to pay compensation.
The Slovenian parliament passed the law on November 22, making the central bank liable for reimbursing bank shareholders and bondholders who lost investment money when the banking system was overhauled in 2013.
The Slovenian government put £2.5 billion into bailing out the state-owned banks which would otherwise have collapsed, but thousands of investors lost out, hence the law to compensate them, a law which the European Cenral Bank says is illegal in the Eurozone of which Slovenia is part. The Bank of Slovenia issued a strongly worded statement in response to the new law, called the Act on Judicial Relief Granted to Holders of Qualified Bank Credit.
The bank said: “It is with regret that the Bank of Slovenia notes that its fundamental positions and the similar views of other institutions were not taken into consideration.
“As adopted, the law contravenes current legislation in Slovenia and international law governing the functioning of the central bank. The law is disputable primarily on the grounds of the prohibition of monetary financing and financial independence.
“These are fundamental principles in the functioning of central banks in the euro area. The law puts the Bank of Slovenia in a substantially weaker position, which is unprecedented in Slovenia and the EU: making a public institution so strictly liable for its functioning is unique.
“The law stipulates that the Bank of Slovenia’s liability is potentially objective, while it is subject to a reversed burden of proof. The Bank of Slovenia is required to pay individuals a flat compensation amount, irrespective of liability.”
Third right winger is sacked by Estonia’s PM
ESTONIA’S minister of rural affairs Mart Jarvik has been removed from office after the member of the far right Estonian Conservative Peoples Party (EKRE) overstepped the mark in dealing with matters outside his remit.
Estonian prime minister Juri Ratas said it was a joint decision by his Centre Party and the EKRE who remain as the ruling coalition with the Isamaa party. Jarvik (above) is the third EKRE minister to go in recent times.
There has been controversy in Estonia – population 1.3 million – ever since the far-right party came into the government. The ministry of rural affairs was at the centre of several allegations against Jarvik’s conduct.
The ministry’s secretary general Illar Lemetti was also dismissed when Ratas decided to act after a special commission looking into the ministry found Jarvik to be overstepping the responsibilities of his portfolio, attempting to give directions to the veterinary and food board. Speaking on Estonian TV, Ratas said: “I could not have let the management crisis continue in the ministry of rural affairs. The secretary general was released due to a lack of co-operation between him and the minister. A signal of trust going forward was also needed, and I released the minister because of my lack of confidence in him.”
Ratas denied he was silencing officials, saying: “Officials can and should speak up. They must speak directly to politicians, they must also speak publicly where it is needed. Under no circumstances can we build a country where we have to gag anyone.”
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