Six members of the European Parliament will kick off a two-day visit in Malta on Monday to probe progress in investigations, court proceedings and reforms following the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017.
The MEPs, who form part of the EP’s civil liberties committee, will be taking stock of the latest developments as regards the rule of law, recent judicial reforms, the safety of journalists, anti-corruption measures and citizenship and residence by investment schemes.
During their visit, they are scheduled to meet the president, the prime minister, cabinet members, the attorney general, the speaker and members of parliament. A meeting with the chief justice was also requested but this is yet to be confirmed.
The MEPs will also hold talks with commissioners and senior civil servants, representatives of Europol (the EU’s police agency) and regulatory bodies, as well as NGOs, civil society, journalists, representatives of the Daphne Project and Caruana Galizia’s family.
They are expected to give a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
The delegation is the third one to visit the island on a fact-finding mission since the journalist’s murder in 2017.
Six MEPs had travelled to Malta on an urgent mission in 2019 amid the political turmoil that had culminated in the resignation of then-prime minister Joseph Muscat. During that visit, the MEPs, who, at the time, also included now-EP president Roberta Metsola, had raised concerns about the integrity of the investigation into the murder.
They had said the political crisis, which had seen hundreds of protesters taking to the streets following revelations involving top people close to Muscat’s office, had been made worse by the prime minister’s decision to remain in office despite calls for him to go.
This third delegation will be chaired by Dutch MEP Sophie in’t Veld, who also led previous missions to the island.
She has often been critical of Malta and has been especially vocal against the island’s golden passport scheme.
In March, days after Russia invaded Ukraine, in’t Veld labelled Malta’s scheme as “unfair to European and Ukrainian citizens”.
“These schemes are letting in very unsavoury and shady individuals. Is it unfair to ask Malta to scrap the scheme? I don’t know. Is it fair for Malta, or other countries, to create that risk to the EU? I don’t think so.
“[It’s] very difficult for small countries whose revenue streams depend on this... I understand it is painful but it is not fair to European citizens and Ukrainians at this point,” she had said.