MEP Cyrus Engerer said on Friday he was “very happy” to see Malta’s condemnation of the invasion of Ukraine, despite its constitutional neutrality and small size relative to other EU states.

“I’m very happy to see that our country, being the smallest member state of the European Union and… a neutral member state… we still have been very strong in our condemnation of this war of aggression against Ukraine”, Engerer said.  

“Yes, we are a neutral state… and don’t envisage any change in that… however, being neutral does not mean not condemning what is happening against the international legal order” he said, in a speech delivered at an event hosted by the University of Malta titled 'War against Ukraine: The impact on human rights and migration.'

Although Malta does not supply arms to Ukraine, “that does not mean we do not fight diplomatically to find a peaceful solution towards this unprovoked invasion of Ukraine,” he said, speaking to Times of Malta after the event.

Malta has been more openly critical of Russia's conduct in recent months, with its emboldened tone drawing praise from Ukraine and strident criticism from the Kremlin. 

While Engerer has said he is enthusiastic about Malta's stronger foreign policy language, his fellow Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba has spoken more cautiously.

“It seems as though the European Parliament has forgotten about the concept of peace and the importance of avoiding further escalations and confrontations,” Agius Saliba wrote some weeks back, as MEPs debated whether to supply Kyiv with weapons.  "I don’t want my country to ever end up having to fight someone else’s wars.” 

Metsola praises 'European solidarity' 

Friday’s panel discussion also featured a pre-recorded video address from European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, in which she highlighted the impacts of the war and praised Europe’s efforts to welcome refugees fleeing the conflict.  

The war had “shattered the lives of millions of Ukrainian people… [and] impacted the economies we were so successful in trying to rebuild after the pandemic” she said, while paying homage to the “remarkable display of European solidarity” the crisis had created. 

The event included a pre-recorded speech by Roberta Metsola. Photo: Jonathan Borg.

Metsola thanked everyone involved in offering “help and support to our Ukrainian friends”, noting that over 1,000 people had arrived in Malta during the first few months of the crisis. 

“The Maltese have always been known to be generous people, ones that you can rely on, and that empathise with the most vulnerable people on our planet” she said.  

“I am convinced we will continue to play a part in supporting Ukraine and its people.”

Yellow Ribbon Resistance Movement representative and Sakharov Prize Laureate Yaroslav Bozhko said that while he understood Malta’s neutrality, “we should understand what this war means for all people around the world.”

“It’s not only geopolitics… it’s a war against a genocide, human crimes [and] autocracies,” he said. 

The result of this war will show all countries and governments what behaviour is acceptable, he added, highlighting that 300,000 Ukrainian families had lost their homes during the war. 

Bozhko also drew attention to human rights abuses in the country, noting that 9,000 military crimes had been documented in the small Ukrainian city of Bucha alone. 

Other speakers at the event included human rights lawyer Oleksandra Matviychuk, MEP David Casa, lecturer Valentina Cassar, EU Asylum Agency spokesperson Anis Cassar and Ukrainian journalist in Malta Inna Honcharuk-Plikhivska.

The discussion was moderated by Anna Khakee, Associate Professor in International Relations at the University of Malta.