US embassy cables | Labour would oppose Partnership for Peace S.O.F.A.

During a meeting that also included Labour leader Joseph Muscat, Vella declared that the country’s reactivated membership in the PfP – done the day after Lawrence Gonzi was re-elected in March 2008 – “was invalid, as it failed to comply with Malta’s Treaties Act.”

Labour had withdrawn from PfP in 1996. Vella said the government had no way to rejoin PfP without parliamentary approval.

Vella added that since the Labour government led by Alfred Sant had executed a “complete unconditional withdrawal” from PfP – Vella said he himself approved the letter to NATO in his capacity as Foreign Minister – it would have been improper for NATO to have characterized the action as a mere suspension, which is why it could not be reactivated.

Vella noted that the PfP signature had “circumvented” Malta’s Treaties Act, which requires either a resolution or other act of Parliament to ratify any international agreement.

Vella and Muscat however expressed “a willingness to accept PfP membership” as well as improved relations with the United States and the embassy.

Vella said Labour had come to the conclusion that PfP membership was not contrary to the neutrality clause of Malta’s constitution, and would have been willing to work with the government to rejoin. “Labour remained silent following the government’s declaration of renewed membership, Vella said, because of that belief. It did not mean that they accepted the act as valid, however,” Kmiec noted.

Kmiec said Muscat welcomed him warmly and that any reservations he had ever harboured on better relations with the United States “had been ‘wiped away’ by the new U.S. administration’s multilateral approach.”

He noted that Muscat took “a clear second seat to Vella” in the discussion. He reported that Muscat said Labour was “ready to change, it could not accept politically being ‘taken for granted’ or ‘humiliated’.”

Kmiec described Vella’s statements on the PfP as “unexpected and troublesome” and that it seemed to presage “continuing PL efforts to focus on partisan advantage without reference to broader national security objectives.”

The ambassador said that any hopes for Labour to accept a SOFA agreement – whether PfP or bilaterally with US forces – “may be a casualty of this attitude.”

“The meeting also raises the issue of how secure Joseph Muscat’s position as PL leader is,” Kmiec surmised on the 36-year-old leader.

The “outing” of the neutrality issue was described by Kmiec as a watershed moment, for the interest it attracted in the Maltese press when he raised it in an opinion column.