Dominican priest enraged at ‘murderous’ NATO visits to Malta

Dominican priest Mark Montebello has sent out an enraged missive against the regular visits from the NATO fleet, the latest from the standing mine countermeasures Immediate Reaction Force to the Grand Harbour.

Visits by NATO forces never fail to elicit controversy from critics who say Malta’s Constitution expressly forbids the presence of military vessels from the “two superpowers”, an anachronistic reference to the United States of America and the Soviet Union.

“It looks like there are no scruples about the fact that the Constitution, or the years spent years getting rid of NATO from Malta, are being ignored,” Montebello wrote in his personal blog, in which he dubbed NATO “a murderous institution.”

The priest, a prisoners’ rights activist and the biographer of proto-nationalist Manwel Dimech, said NATO’s announcement of its Malta visit under the pretext of “dialogue, cooperation and peace” was not being questioned.

“Back in the day we would take these words for the lies they are, but today it’s as if we are believing what they say. Since when has NATO been an institution of dialogue, good relations, awareness, cooperation or peace? NATO was founded to kill…

“What should amaze us, indeed enrage us, is that the Maltese government, bound by the Constitution, an electoral mandate, and the spirit of peace and neutrality – a Labour government, if you please – accepts NATO’s mockery without question.

“It is pathetic to have a government and its foreign minister talking about peace around the globe, and then in practice in welcome a murderous institution like NATO like some white dove.”

Montebello also took issue with Commander Matthias Seipel’s comment that the NATO visit was to maintain “dialogue and cooperation” with its Mediterranean partners.

“It’s immoral to dialogue and cooperate with NATO. It’s simple enough. More so when welcoming them at home like friends,” Montebello said.

Under Labour in 1986, Malta’s constitutional neutrality was enshrined in a bipartisan agreement over electoral reform.

Malta is a member of NATO’s Partnership for Peace, although the reactivation of its membership – which Alfred Sant withdrew from as Labour’s first act of government upon being elected in 1996 – led to the forced resignation of Richard Cachia Caruana, permanent representative to the EU, on a Labour motion.