Let’s take a quick ride down memory lane of Maltese politics in 2022 to remember those who spread Russian propaganda and were eventually proved wrong. These people are, however, not innocent bystanders of propaganda war who genuinely couldn’t get it right, but rather willing participants in the justification of authoritarianism, imperialism, and fascism out of opportunism, incompetence, and unashamed amorality.
The Prime Minister, Robert Abela
As soon as Russia invaded Ukraine, Robert Abela thought the incident was not a matter of concern to him or to his government. The first thing he said in public as the Russian army crossed the Ukrainian border was that his “experts” told him that the war wouldn’t affect Malta’s economy and Malta being neutral has no interest in the conflict. He quickly retracted his words days later after the imbeciles around him finally convinced him that the situation was very serious. Prime Minister Robert Abela was in business with the Russians when he was a consultant to the Prime Minister and also facilitated the money laundering and bribes of Russians who obtained Maltese citizenship. At the European Council, Robert Abela positioned Malta with the minority of “illiberals” who opposed sanctions on Russia.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Evarist Bartolo
Evarist Bartolo was Robert Abela’s first Minister of Foreign Affairs and his choice served him well given that Varist consistently parroted the Kremlin’s line on its invasion of Ukraine. He opposed sanctions on Russia and wanted the Maltese government to keep selling Maltese passports to Russians. Varist is literally a Russian mouthpiece parroting imperialist tropes such as the need for “security guarantees for Russia”. He’s like a relic from the Brezhnev era who can’t come to terms with the fact that the world has changed.
The Minister of Energy, Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli successfully believed Russian propaganda that Europe was going to freeze to death without Russian gas and panic-traded a gas deal which has lost the government hundreds of millions of Euros.
The experts of the Labour government, Clint Flores, Steve Ellul and others
Prospective politicians Clint Flores and Steve Ellul are some of the trusted consultants of the Labour government and both of them believed in the Russian fairy tale that Europe will have a gas crisis. Clint Flores still believes there will be a gas crisis. LNG storage in Europe is at 83.1% capacity and 25% higher than average. NATGAS is still below $4 despite a relief rally in markets and below the price of the previous year.
The Deputy-Leader of the Labour Party, Daniel Micallef
Daniel Micallef, the deputy-leader of the Labour Party made various statements against Russian sanctions arguing they are ineffective and only hurt Europeans. Inflation in Europe has peaked and is rapidly going down, employment is strong, the economy is picking up, gas prices have crashed and the Russian economy is in the initial phases of its Venezuela 2.0 process.
Moral of the story: don’t bet against the West.
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