PN Distances Itself From Julie Zahra’s Call For Malta To Expel Russian Diplomats
The Nationalist Party has clarified that PN MP Julie Zahra’s recent call for Malta to immediately expel its Russian mission was an expression of her own personal opinion and not official party policy.
A PN spokesperson confirmed with Lovin Malta that Zahra was expressing her personal opinion and that the party’s position with regards to the war in Ukraine “is in line with the common approach undertaken by the European Union”.
“Partit Nazzjonalista supports all action taken by the union with regards to Russia including the imposition of sanctions,” the spokesperson said. “To date such sanctions do not include the closure of Russian missions in respective EU member countries.”
Last week, Zahra urged Malta to expel its Russian mission as a reaction to a missile strike that killed four-year-old Liza Dmitrieva in the Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia.
“This is sickening,” Zahra said. “People continue to die for nothing, now it’s the turn of a four-year old child, the same age as my daughter.”
“This is the result of what Robert Abela deems as a conflict. This is a war.”
“Malta has to react. As a sign of political commitment it’s time to take diplomatic action against the Russian mission in Malta and expel them without any further delay.”
“We must take all the necessary measures to stop the mad despot called Putin once and for all.”
Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg has previously played down calls to expel Russian diplomats due to the small size of Malta’s diplomatic presence in Russia. This means there is a real risk that Malta could end up without any diplomatic presence in Russia at all if Russia responds to the expulsion of diplomats in kind.
“Diplomatic relations between the Republic of Malta and the Russian Federation are longstanding,” a Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson told Lovin Malta last April.
“Malta keeps contact with all countries it has diplomatic ties with and meetings are held from time to time. Therefore bilateral relations are still in place, although less active.”
However, the Ministry made it clear that though the channels remain open, the island was very much following the European Union’s position on Russia.
“Malta is fully aligned to the EU position and condemns Russia’s unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine.”
“It also echoes the calls for an unconditional ceasefire and negotiations for a sustainable peace agreement to bring an end to the fighting and violence. For this to happen channels of dialogue must continue to remain open.”
Cover photo: PN Leader Bernard Grech with PN MP Julie Zahra (Photo: Julie Zahra – Facbeook), Inset: Russia’s ambassador to Malta Andrei Lopukhov
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