Muscat says 'bureaucracy' is 'slowing down' refugee relocation programmes

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said that issues like bureaucracy were causing solutions like the resettlement of refugees from one EU member state to another,  from having positive results.

Speaking on national television during the end-of-year summit currently being in Brussels, Muscat said that other issues that might be hindering these programmes from being effective included the fact that some countries still disagreed with the system.

“Some countries, like Malta, are very frustrated because their efforts to help are being bogged down by bureaucracy,” Muscat said referring to the fact that Malta had agreed to accept six refugees under the programme.

Muscat also discussed the European commission’s proposal to beef up external border protection with a new border guard agency to be deployed in emergency situations to border sections under pressure without the consent of the member state concerned.

“Malta is in favour of discussions for a shared border protection agencies, but we could never accept a situation where the EU compromises the sovereignty of member states,” Muscat said.

Reports show that the proposal faces resistance from countries, particularly from Hungary and Poland, as it requires member states to partly give up a core national sovereignty - border protection, however, the commission argues that quick EU help is needed in crisis situations even when the member state is reluctant or unable to act, as in the recent case of Greece.

Discussing Malta’s current suspension of the Schengen agreement even well beyond the international events held in the last months, Muscat said  that the border controls in Malta had revealed “rackets and abuses” that needed to be addressed.

Muscat added that although the situation was improving, border controls would only be removed when the situation was deemed “sufficiently safe”.

“We are also happy to see the new suggestions for the Schengen agreement to introduce more controls in particularly suspicious cases,” Muscat added.

“Malta wants Britain to be a part of the EU, but not at the cost of giving it exceptions from other member states”

Speaking about the issue of Britain’s referendum to leave or stay in the EU, Muscat said that Malta wished the country to remain a part of the Union and that as such, it was willing to respond to the country’s requirements as much as possible.

“This should never come at the cost of the UK being given the right to be an exception,” he said, referring to the four-point plan of key demands as the price for keeping Britain in the European Union.

Making particular reference to freedom of movement, Muscat said that if there are any changes, they must apply to all member states and not just the UK.

Other issues on the agenda include the fight against terrorism, the single market and the monetary union among others.

Muscat also discussed the promise made by opposing Libyan factions to form a a government of national unity, and said that although it was promising, there was still a long way to go.

After a surprise meeting held at the Prime Minister’s Office in Valletta yesterday, the president of the internationally recognised Libyan House of Representatives Aguila Saleh Issa and the president of the Islamist-controlled General National Congress Nuri Abusahmin insisted that a government of national unity “can be formed”.

“We want to form a unity government but we don’t want it to be enforced from the outside. This government must be agreed to by all the Libyan people. We don’t want an [outside] intervention if this comes against the will of our people,” Issa said yesterday.

“The road ahead is still long,” Muscat said, adding that Malta would continue to serve as a bridge between the disagreeing factions.