Evarist Bartolo warns Malta against joining Trump’s ‘business venture'

Malta should not join Donald Trump’s “predatory” board of peace, former Labour foreign minister Evarist Bartolo said, describing it as a “business venture” that makes “a mockery” of sovereignty and international law.

Bartolo was reacting to Robert Abela’s surprise statement in parliament on Monday that Malta was weighing up the prospect of joining the board of peace.

Although ostensibly set up as an initiative to administer post-war Gaza, the board is widely seen as Trump’s attempt to bypass the United Nations Security Council.

The board gives Trump wide-ranging powers, naming him as the board’s inaugural chairman and giving him carte blanche over appointing his successor, as well as the authority to veto any decisions taken by the majority of its members.

Abela’s statement triggered a backlash within Labour circles yesterday, with several party insiders decrying the prospect of Malta joining the board.

This was echoed by several former high-ranking officials, all of whom expressed their disdain for the suggestion that Malta could accept an invitation to join the board.

Bartolo, who served as the Labour government’s foreign minister from 2020 to 2022, warned that the board is set up to give Trump quasi-feudal powers.

“I do not think we should join Trump’s business venture run by a board where he has the final word on everything like absolute emperors of centuries ago,” Bartolo said.

The board is a way of “privatising relations between states, making a mockery of sovereignty, the United Nations and international law,” he added.

'Malta would be among the first to suffer'

According to Bartolo, Malta would be among the first to suffer if the board ever gains any form of legitimacy.

“Small states will be the worst hit in a world that regresses to a world dominated by predatory private companies colonising areas of the world like the East India company set up in 1600s by the British to colonise India,” he said.

Former PN foreign minister Tonio Borg expressed similar concern, pointing out that the only EU member states to have joined the board are Hungary and Bulgaria.

“Even Italy and the UK, with their special relationship with the US, have not joined,” Borg said. “As a small country, should we join Hungary and Bulgaria or other major EU countries in our approach?”

'We should not go along a separate track'

“I am against participation because we should stick to the general policy of the EU, not go along a separate track. We must not appear to be pariahs,” he said.

Similarly, when contacted, former president Marie Louise Coleiro Preca warned that joining the board of peace would dilute Malta’s integrity on foreign policy.

“I cannot support Malta joining the so-called board of peace,” she told Times of Malta. “It is already perceived as a parallel structure to the United Nations, risking confusion and undermining multilateralism”.

Coleiro Preca described the UN as “the world’s established and legitimate forum for peace,” contrasting it with the board of peace’s “ad hoc initiative with unclear standing”.

“Only months ago, Malta chaired the UN Security Council and upheld the two-state solution for peaceful co-existence for both the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. Shifting course now would weaken our credibility and contradict our constitutional neutrality,” she said.

Ultimately, “Malta’s strength lies in supporting recognised institutions, not experimental structures that dilute our foreign-policy integrity,” Coleiro Preca insisted.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres himself issued a stark warning to countries considering joining the board during a security council meeting on Monday. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Malta should never be a participant 'in politics of force'

Labour Party president Alex Sciberras was equally dismissive saying Malta should never be a participant “in the politics of force”.

Sciberras published a social media post yesterday saying: “The Labour movement, among others, was born from the idea that Malta should never be subject to or a participant in the politics of force.” 

He said Malta has fought for neutrality and has “always stood on the side of people who were denied dignity and the right to determine their own destiny, including the Palestinian people.”

“This history is not merely symbolic or a tale of nostalgia but is part of our identity and defines how we understand peace,” he said

Several diplomats who spoke to Times of Malta on condition of anonymity also spoke of their surprise at Abela’s position, expressing their scepticism at the prospect of Malta joining the board of peace.

Some pointed out that Malta had spent years meticulously planning its two-year stint as a member of the UN Security Council, drafting plans and budgeting costs, a far cry from the seemingly improvised response to the invitation to join the board of peace.

The UN Secretary-General António Guterres himself issued a stark warning to countries considering joining the board during a security council meeting on Monday.

“In an era crowded with initiatives, the United Nations Security Council stands alone in its Charter-mandated authority to act on behalf of all Member States on questions of peace and security,” Gutierres said.

“No other body or ad-hoc coalition can legally require all Member States to comply with decisions on peace and security,” he said.