Malta’s Permanent Representative to the EU Richard Cachia Caruana has reconfirmed the crucial role he plays in politics, putting his personal store in the surprise decision to take Malta into the Partnership for Peace.
The decision to reactivate the application to join the NATO-led initiative, frozen in 1996 by the newly elected Labour government, was taken last Monday in the first Cabinet meeting after the election.
But the issue had previously never been on the agenda of Malta’s foreign policy.
MaltaToday is informed plans to take Malta back into the PfP were unknown to various Cabinet ministers as well.
High-level sources said the reactivation of PfP membership “was never part of former foreign minister Michael Frendo’s policy agenda” – a factor confirming Cachia Caruana’s newfound influence in foreign affairs now that Frendo is no longer foreign minister.
MaltaToday is informed the proposal to join the PfP was advanced by Cachia Caruana in Brussels with Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi and Tonio Borg.
Government is claiming it is reactivating membership because it was being excluded from foreign policy and security talks at EU level due to its non-membership of the PfP.
But although the problem is said to have “existed for years”, discussions on joining the PfP never took place in the previous legislature with Michael Frendo, well-placed sources said.
The move has been attributed to Richard Cachia Caruana, who is already claiming a greater say on European affairs, and which confirms the influence he has on Tonio Borg. Cachia Caruana also serves as an unelected member of the Cabinet, shunning public appearances or media engagements.
It was also noteworthy last week at the European Council meeting in Brussels, that Gonzi announced the replacement of Forum Malta fl-Ewropa, a body set up in 2005 by Michael Frendo himself to integrate the Malta-EU Information Centre (MIC) and the Malta-EU Steering and Action Committee (MEUSAC) into a single entity under the foreign ministry.
The Forum, previously government’s consultative mechanism on EU issues, will now be replaced by MEUSAC, which will fall under the Prime Minister’s portfolio. It will be chaired by the parliamentary secretary Chris Said.

But it is also true that the US government was instrumental in lobbying the Maltese government and other social partners in Malta to reactivate the frozen application to join the Partnership for Peace (PfP).
It encouraged Malta to reactivate the application to join the NATO-led initiative; while tomorrow, senior representatives of the US Treasury Department will also be in Malta for two days of high-level talks that will conclude years of discussions over a crucial double taxation agreement between the two countries.
Indeed, the PfP proposal itself was not mentioned in the PN’s 72-page electoral programme.
Suffice to say the Opposition itself was never informed of government’s intention to reactivate the application in parliament or the foreign affairs committee. Acting Labour leader Charles Mangion said the party was only informed of the decision, but was not asked for its opinion on the matter.
Labour had already ruled out membership in the EU Rapid Reaction Force and NATO’s Partnership for Peace in its draft vision statement on foreign affairs back in April 2007.
But with a US double-taxation agreement now imminent, the new foreign policy direction of the Maltese government was last Friday instantly welcomed in Brussels by US acting Under-Secretary of State for political affairs, Daniel Fried, just a day after Malta’s announcement.
“These institutions make a valuable contribution to Euro-Atlantic security and dialogue. PfP has effectively strengthened relationships between states in Europe and North America, increased practical cooperation and underlined our common commitment to democratic principles,” Fried said.
It was previously understood that the reactivation of the PfP membership was not going to be considered, a pledge undertaken by former PN leader Eddie Fenech Adami back in 1998.

mvella@mediatoday.com.mt