Malta stopped short of officially recognising Palestinian statehood after coming under intense pressure from the US and Israel, Times of Malta understands.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and top Israeli officials leaned heavily on Malta to distance itself from a group of countries that formally recognised Palestine last month, diplomatic sources told Times of Malta.

The decision to buckle under that pressure has frustrated diplomats, who say it follows a trend of Malta dancing to Washington’s tune.

“We are now always concerned about the US position,” a top diplomat confided. “And what they request of us is always acceded to.”

We are always concerned about the US position- Top diplomat

But the Maltese government strongly denied the allegations of pressure by the US, Israel or any other country, saying they were “nothing but lies and spin”.

The controversy stems from a declaration by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez last March that Malta would be joining Spain in working towards Palestinian state recognition.

The following month, Palestine presented a bid for full UN membership to the Malta-led UN Security Council.

Ahead of that vote, Foreign Minister Ian Borg flew to the US and met with Blinken in Washington DC.

Diplomats claim Malta’s approach to the Palestinian statehood issue changed considerably following that meeting. Malta nevertheless voted in favour of Palestine’s bid for UN membership, which was, however, vetoed by the US.

Then, when Spain, Ireland and Norway announced last month that they were formally recognising Palestine, Malta was conspicuous by its silence.

But Borg’s ministry said yesterday that Malta’s position concerning Palestinian statehood was “definitely not discussed” during the minister’s meeting with Blinken.

Officially, the government’s position is that recognition of Palestinian statehood will come “when the time is right”, and the ministry reiterated that stand in its replies yesterday.

Recognition of Palestinian statehood would come “when such recognition can make a positive contribution to the two-state solution, and when the circumstances are right,” Borg’s ministry said.

Other government sources also insist that Malta wants Palestine to do more to get its own house in order first.

“Official recognition is an incentive that we should use to incentivise the Palestinians to sort out their many governance issues,” a government official said. “We should be wary of giving that leverage away too cheaply.”

‘It’s a mess’

But a top diplomat within Malta’s foreign service told Times of Malta that the country’s position was an improvised one.

“There was big pressure to hold off on the UN vote [for Palestinian membership], but we went ahead anyway. Then we remained silent as others officially recognised Palestine.

“It’s a mess,” they confided. “This whole debacle has shown us to be weak. Now other countries know that we will buckle if pressured.”

Two separate diplomats who spoke to Times of Malta said they believed the situation could have been easily avoided, given Malta’s history of strong ties to Palestine.

“Palestine already includes us within a list of countries that recognises their statehood. They have an accredited ambassador in Malta. We’re basically 90 per cent there already,” one diplomat said.

“We could have taken one of two routes,” another reasoned. “One: tell Pedro Sanchez that Malta already de facto recognises Palestine and avoid endorsing that March declaration. Two: endorse the Sanchez declaration, then resist US pressure by telling them we are just formalising a position we adopted decades ago.

“Instead, we endorsed that declaration but then did not follow through.”

The country’s stance has also been dragged into the political arena: PN MEP candidate and European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said the Abela government was guilty of “hypocrisy” by not formally recognising Palestine.

Metsola, however, stopped short of endorsing Palestinian statehood herself.

Malta enjoys strong relations with Palestine

Malta enjoys historically strong relations with Palestine and is close to formally recognising it as a state already.

More than 35 years ago, in 1988, Malta sent the United Nations a letter in which it said it welcomed a Palestinian declaration of independence and said that declaration was “a true and genuine expression of the right of the Palestinian people to a state of their own”.

Since then, Malta and Palestine have exchanged ambassadors and Palestine includes Malta in a list of countries it says formally recognise it.

Malta has emphasised the need for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and a Malta-led resolution is, to date, the only motion concerning the ongoing conflict that was not vetoed by the UN Security Council.

Tense US relations

The situation surrounding Palestinian recognition also puts Malta’s relationship with the US into sharp relief – a relationship diplomatic sources say has become even more one-sided than was historically the case.

Diplomats trace that shift in dynamics to Malta’s relegation to the FATF grey list of countries requiring enhanced monitoring of anti-money laundering measures.

While the FATF is an independent multilateral entity, government sources privately acknowledge that the US – along with the UK and Germany – played a key role in that decision.

Malta was taken off the grey list in mid-2022, and that decision was also made with Washington’s blessing. The country is still smarting from that experience, diplomats say.

One top diplomat likened Malta’s current relationship with the US to one of indentured servitude – an illegal form of labour in which workers do work without a salary to pay off a debt.

Times of Malta also spoke to a minister and top civil servant who both privately acknowledged that Malta has been squeezed by the US in recent years.

“We’re under their thumb,” one acknowledged.

Questions were also sent to the US Embassy in Malta, asking whether the US has been pressuring Malta on the issue and what role it played in getting Malta off the grey list.

This article was created with the help of the Daphne Caruana Galizia foundation.