[WATCH] Thomas Bajada: ‘Rise of far-right stems from people feeling Europe does not care about their story’

The rise of extremist politics stems from EU citizens feeling that their concerns are not being heard, Labour MEP Thomas Bajada believes.

“They feel Europe does not care about their story. Why? Because diplomats and politicians enter the so-called Brussels bubble […] and you get the sense that all they talk about are issues they face,” he tells me.

A relative newcomer to politics, but an experienced navigator of European institutions, he sits down with me to discuss life in Brussels, the EU’s relationship with Donald Trump’s America, and his latest initiatives. The interview was filmed days before the European Commission announced its ReArm Europe package.

Bajada insists that one of his top priorities is putting matters that affect people onto the European agenda.

“Even during the election campaign, my main message was clear – people’s stories are an essential part of my story,” he tells me.

On the ever-changing geopolitical landscape, which continues to shift under the Trump presidency, Bajada concedes that the European Union (EU) faces one of the biggest challenges in its history.

“The United States was and will remain one of the world’s superpowers, and the fact that it seems to be trying to undermine the EU is problematic,” he insists.

With increased military spending on the EU agenda, Bajada questions whether this will result in cuts to social and cohesion budgets.

“The question that needs to be asked is: Where will we get the billions from?” he says.

Bajada believes the issue of defence is multi-faceted and something Malta should not ignore. “I think the first thing we must address is that when we speak about defence, we think of missiles but tend to forget a crucial aspect of modern warfare – cyberattacks. I ask you one thing: Is Malta able to defend itself from attacks of this nature? I am not speaking about the EU; I am speaking about Malta,” the Labour MEP says.

He argues that an island like Malta, which is continually digitising itself, would be particularly susceptible to such attacks on its infrastructure.

“What will we do if something happens to that digital infrastructure? I think it’s important to start discussing how we will defend ourselves from contemporary threats,” Bajada says.

Turning his attention to the EU, he questions where the funding for increased defence spending will come from.

“I think it is important to look at the European budget and ask where that funding will come from. What will we spend less on? And normally, the first budgets that are cut are cohesion funding, which Malta depends on, and social funding, which is very important,” he says.

The following is an excerpt of the interview. 

Watch the full interview on maltatoday.com.mt, Facebook and Spotify. 

You mentioned how the far-right is on the rise around the world and in Europe. We saw this in the German elections a couple of weeks ago. One of the biggest talking points remains migration – do you think the left has betrayed people on the issue?

This is a discussion we have every week. Apart from representing the Labour Party, I represent the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), which is a centre-left group. The European Parliament elections have clearly shown that trends are shifting to the right, as the majority of seats are now shifting to the right. It is a message we must pay attention to. At the end of the day, the most important thing is to listen to people’s pleas. Beyond ideologies, we must ground ourselves and take a step back to listen to what people are complaining about.
You mentioned migration; I’ll give you another example – the environment. The EU sought to be a global pioneer in environmental protection, and the European Green Deal was Ursula von der Leyen’s flagship project during her first mandate. The first thing I said when asked by journalists after my election was to ensure the Green Deal is for the people. European policies are normally drawn up following an impact assessment that ignores the realities of smaller states like ours. Therefore, we are regularly ignored because, except for the veto, we do not have the voting power that larger states have in the European Council.

Together with the identity crisis Europe seems to be facing, it faces a reality it has not experienced before, where the US seems to be abandoning its long-standing relationship with the EU. How do you analyse this situation?

The debate on the EU’s role in geopolitics and calls for increased military spending have been ongoing for years now. There are various debates we can have, but I believe that we should not mix the country’s neutrality with what is happening across the globe right now.
It is important to further the principles of debate and discussion. What is happening right now will change the face of the earth. But above all else, what worries me the most is the uncertainty. We do not know how the situation will pan out.
We saw Trump’s comments on how he wants to turn the area [Gaza] into a resort.

I think whether Trump will follow through on his statements remains to be seen, but it is still worrying to see the US President speaking in that way…

Yes, and at the end of the day, the United States was, and will remain, one of the world’s superpowers, and the fact that it seems to be trying to undermine the EU is problematic, as it has always sought to position itself at the forefront of geopolitical issues. On Ukraine, the EU has taken a clear stand in favour of it, and yes, it is important to do so, but we must not forget our region’s stability.

Another issue which has spurred global debate is the situation in Palestine. It is not necessarily a ‘European problem’. It obviously is of concern because we share the same sea, and we have seen people like Roberta Metsola receiving flak for meeting with Israeli leaders. We can also see topographical similarities with Malta. Government has said it will recognise Palestine as a state when the conditions are right. How do you feel on the issue?

I have always made it clear that we should recognise Palestine as a state. […] Another thing I will say is that in the same way I feel Maltese, I also feel Mediterranean, and we rarely hear this being said.
I truly believe in the potential of this region. For thousands of years, the region was a chain of cultures which, one way or another, managed to work with each other. You might tell me it is also one of the most unstable and unpredictable regions, and I agree, because it is in our nature to fight for what we believe in. That is why we feel close to the Palestinians, because culturally we resonate with each other.
[…]
I have said these same things at the European Parliament, but there still seems to be scepticism by other countries about doing this [recognising Palestine as a state].