Coronavirus: Foreign Minister laments lack of EU solidarity, Malta receives surgical masks from China

Malta has received 110,000 surgical masks from China to aid in the battle against Covid-19 as foreign minister laments export restrictions by EU countries.

Evarist Bartolo received the masks from China on Monday and these will be passed on to the army, the police, the corrective services, the cleansing department and supermarket staff.

Asked whether the masks were up to scratch after the Netherlands and other EU countries complained of defective Chinese products, the Foreign Minister said these were checked before the shipment arrived.

Bartolo said various countries in the EU were refusing to export certain materials, such as surgical masks.

“Often times, we received more help from outside the EU than from within it. I understand that charity begins at home, but the EU is our collective home. Some countries in the EU say they have rescinded their ban of exports of surgical masks, for example, but such a revocation is not actualised,” Bartolo told MaltaToday.

Speaking at a press conference at the Foreign Ministry, Bartolo said that one of the EU’s biggest commandments is the single market, but that such an idea was not being practiced when it was sorely needed, and that big countries like Germany were refusing to export necessary materials.

Bartolo said that he raised this issue with the EU Commissioner for the Single Market and that Malta had spoken about this during a virtual conference between EU foreign ministers.

“We talked about how difficult it is to compete with big countries to get what we need. They cannot leave us in isolation. We either believe in the solidarity principle of Europe all the time — especially now during this crisis — or not at all,” he said, praising Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa, who fronted the issue during the conference.

“What we’re going through right now is a war against a deadly virus. It is disturbing our health, lifestyle and economy. When we come out of it, we will find a changed world. The supply chains of food and pharmaceuticals are changing drastically and we would have to eventually resuscitate the economy somehow,” Bartolo said.

Malta agrees with corona bonds

During a recent virtual summit, some EU leaders raised the prospect of a common debt instrument for the entire bloc to finance the response to the coronavirus pandemic. These debt instruments are known in common parlance as corona bonds. 

However, this saw leaders clash, as countries like the Netherlands, Germany, Austria and Finland were averse to the idea. 

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte was one of the leaders who vehemently campaigned for the corona bonds. The conflict re-opened the rift that came to the fore during the 2008 financial crisis.

The EU has acted by accepting a waiver of rules on how much member states can borrow and has granted exception to state-aid regulations so countries can assist ailing industries and companies. The European Central Bank has also pledged to release €750 billion to aid the hard-hit economy.

Bartolo said that he agreed with the EU-wide corona bonds. 

“All that can be done should be done. There will come a time when we would have to resuscitate the economy, and Malta is no exception,” he said.