Roberta Metsola was elected president of the European Parliament (EP) just over one year ago, becoming the youngest ever president and the first Maltese person to hold the office, with an absolute majority of votes cast. No mean achievement for this Gżira-born mother of four.
Her presidency immediately faced an unprecedented international crisis, when Russia invaded Ukraine. She visited the beleaguered city of Kiev on April 1, 2022, a visit that was surely no joke in the circumstances. There, she addressed the Verkhovna Rada, Ukraine’s parliament, and met President Volodymyr Zelensky, expressing the EU’s support for the Ukrainians and condemning the unjustified Russian invasion. Zelensky subsequently bestowed the Order of Princess Olga on Metsola.
Her presidency had to face another problem, this time one that was closer to home. Last December, investigations by the Belgian police uncovered the involvement of wrongdoing by EP officials, namely one of its 14 vice-presidents, the Greek MEP, Eva Kaili, and the Italian ex-MEP, Pier Antonio Panzeri, both from the S&D (Socialist) Group, the same group as Malta’s Labour Party.
Panzeri admitted to the charges, agreeing to tell all to the Belgian police.
When this scandal broke, Metsola’s actions were immediate and hard-hitting. Her immediate suspension of Kaili and revocation of immunity received widespread praise, with one notable exception being our prime minister, Robert Abela, who expressed his scepticism.
Metsola herself was never even mentioned in Qatargate, although the Labour media did try to spin Kaili as being “one of Metsola’s vice-presidents”, notwithstanding the fact that Kaili was elected by the European Parliament’s Plenary and not by Metsola.
As the Qatargate scandal unfolds, and Metsola’s stature continues to grow, showing her qualities as a stateswoman of high calibre, the Maltese Socialists are becoming less and less comfortable with the inevitable contrast with Abela.
This comes as no surprise considering that, while his policy of opaqueness and obscurity is reaching new heights, or, rather, depths, Metsola is taking unprecedented initiatives, praised by none other than The New York Times.
The strategy being used in attempting to discredit Roberta Metsola is becoming recognisable- Eddie Aquilina
She is pushing through reforms to the EP’s transparency procedures, stating unequivocally that “There will be no impunity. None”, in sharp contrast to the culture of impunity, increasingly festering in our country since Labour’s taking power in 2013.
Confronted with this ‘new broom’ in the EP, those in its and Malta’s political dark corners felt that this clean-up needed to be undermined, transparency not being in the interests of those who are shady. The past few weeks indicate that these elements are trying to sabotage the reform by trying, in vain, to discredit Metsola herself.
Il Foglio, an Italian leftist newspaper not exactly renowned for impartiality and objective reporting, started the sniping, publishing an article about Metsola’s alleged intention to appoint a relative as head of cabinet of the EP presidency.
This unsubstantiated and unfounded allegation, of an intention, was coincidentally published on the very same day that Leticia Zuleta de Reales Ansaldo, a Spanish lawyer with almost 20 years of experience working in the European institutions, was appointed.
Following this egg on their faces, the next shot was through the intentional use of words to present a picture totally different from reality, via a commercially-owned section of the press that reported in a skewed, sensationalist manner, blowing things out of all proportion.
The facts show Metsola, in January 2023, publishing the list of gifts received during her year in the role of EP president. Although gifts to MEPs used to be declared internally, as had been done with these 142, a president making this information public is a first, a transparent move intended to support, by example, her proposal to make publication of the internal register compulsory.
And, yet, the spin made a big hoo-haa over the alleged late declaration of these ‘gifts’. Maltese independent media described the gifts so, “ … the value of the tawdry baubles, mementos and trinkets … fail to elicit anything of remark” and “The list of gifts is somewhat pedestrian, largely complied of perishable items like food and drink, items of clothing … most of the items were under €150 in value”. Unfortunately, these spin-doctors will not give up easily and will continue to try to wag the dog by sensationalising other events.
The strategy being used in attempting to discredit Metsola is becoming recognisable – snippets of information are conveniently channelled to left-leaning European media by anonymous ‘sources’ in the European Parliament. Within minutes, the PL and its MEPs issue a barrage of statements, hypocritically expressing shock and outrage. These are amplified through Labour media, including the PBS newsroom.
The proverbial molehills are turned into imaginary mountains, ready for whatever smidgen of wisdom (sic) Abela will drop in his Sunday sermons to the party faithful. This will, in its turn, be reported again, ensuring that the spin circle is completed.
It is so that fake news is created and perpetrated; it is only by these belittling manoeuvres that dwarves can dream of standing like giants.