Editorial: Protecting our democracy

Alain Berset, the Council of Europe secretary-general, raised a legitimate concern about the risks of erosion of democratic standards stemming from increased mili­tarisation across Europe in his recent interview with Times of Malta, marking Malta’s current presidency of the Council of Europe.

The combination of populist movements, polarised societies and rearmament certainly warrants vigilance. His warning rightly highlights that stability in Europe has always depended as much on democratic resilience as on security alliances.

That said, his language may sound alarmist to some ears. We should not shy away from updating longstanding human rights conventions to reflect migration concerns relevant to our age and we should indeed “respect international law” when doing so.

Berset’s apparent criticism of nine EU countries that have called on European courts to reinterpret the European Convention on Human Rights to make it easier to expel migrants who commit a crime only underlines the importance of politicians shouldering the responsibility of clarifying the legal landscape in the first place and not passing the buck down the road to judges who can only interpret what is written. The ECHR remains relevant and needed and it should not be undermined by fear of amending it where necessary.

Similarly, while defence spending is rising in response to external threats, this does not equate to “a highly militarised continent” as in the years before the world wars. Most European democracies continue to operate under strong constitutional safeguards, independent judiciaries and vibrant civil societies. The risk of extremist takeovers exists but remains limited to isolated political shifts rather than a systemic European trend.

This is not to underplay the gravity of the times we live in.

The Russian war of aggression in Ukraine is of an intensity not seen in Europe since World War II. An estimated 400,000 Ukrainian and almost one million Russian dead and critically wounded in four years reflects the butchery. In this carnage, talking of “militarisation” is somewhat redundant. Conflict simmers in the Middle East and in the Sahel countries, directly relevant to Europe’s security.

Neither should we underestimate the consequences of Europe’s drastically changed security and economic relationship with the US under Donald Trump. Trump does not want to pay for Europe’s defence and the message has been understood. Europe faces increased defence spending and immense pressure on its welfare-state model.

This comes on top of increased public debts because of the pandemic and low economic growth since. The German economy is in a prolonged period of economic stagnation. France and Britain are grappling with crippling levels of public debt. This is a difficult time to increase public spending on defence but Europe, its chronic weaknesses exposed in crisis after crisis, from Ukraine to Gaza, has no other option.

Difficult times lie ahead, from which Malta, the smallest EU state, will not be immune. No one should have any doubts that what happens on the continent affects us, directly. We remain one of the world’s most open economies, with critical dependencies on the outside world for energy, security, food and trade.

Malta constantly aligns itself with positions that are a result of consensus and compromise with our EU partners  and those partners mostly have bigger voices than ours. This underlines the importance of diplomacy and expertise of the highest calibre in our international relations and government bodies.

Berset is right to say that “the main thing we need to protect, particularly, when things are going wrong, is the convention and the European Court of Human Rights” but this should never preclude reforms or open political discussion, in which Malta must strive to make its voice and concerns heard.