“Problems and challenges like an overcrowded country choked by buildings, full of cars, urban ugliness and neglect, a lack of law enforcement in several areas, delay and apathy when taking important decisions, a society with a calm exterior but with tensions building up below, and a lack of a socio-economic plan for a sustainable future based on serious national consultation.”

“Are we all ready, primarily the government, to shoulder our different responsibilities so that the country can improve? A small country like ours must be creative, active and energetic and must take smart and quick decisions to continue renewing itself in a constantly changing world.”

He warned that if these problems aren’t tackled, Malta could end up like Sorrells – “where parts of its body show strong signs of life while others are in an advanced state of decomposition, with earthworms feasting on them”.

Bartolo, who served as Malta’s Education Minister between 2013 and 2020 and Foreign Affairs Minister between 2020 and 2022, has regularly spoken out about his concerns for the country’s future. 

Last June, he called for a mature discussion on Malta’s low birth rate, warning that the country will have no other choice but to keep bringing in foreign workers or shrink its economy unless more babies are born.  

Do you agree with Evarist Bartolo’s assessment?