Speaker highlights growing danger of hybrid threats during Parliamentary Security-Intelligence Forum

Speaker of the House of Representatives Anġlu Farrugia underscored the growing dangers of hybrid threats, irregular migration, and illicit finance during the Parliamentary Security-Intelligence Forum held in Washington.

The event was held between 9 to 10 December 2025. The gathering brought together parliamentarians, security officials, and policy leaders from across the world to discuss global security challenges, including migration, emerging technologies, and financial crime.

In his remarks on migration, Farrugia said the issue is “a tangible, daily experience” for Malta due to its position in the Central Mediterranean.

He warned irregular migration remains one of the most urgent humanitarian and security challenges facing Europe and North Africa. Farrugia cautioned weaponised migration is increasingly being used as a form of hybrid pressure in which vulnerable people are exploited for political ends.

Such practices, he added, threaten democratic stability and pose both a moral and strategic test for the international community. He emphasised the exploitation of migrants “must never become normalised.”

Legal and orderly migration routes, supported by strong integration policies, bring clear socio-economic benefits, he said, pointing to Malta’s diverse workforce.

Addressing illicit finance, Farrugia described financial crime as a force that “corrodes institutions and weakens democracies.”

He pointed to Malta’s recent reforms aimed at strengthening transparency and accountability within the financial sector. The Speaker highlighted the growing role of human trafficking as a revenue stream for terrorist groups, generating profits through forced labour, sexual exploitation, ransom, and migrant smuggling.

These funds, he said, are reinvested into weapons, propaganda, and violence, creating a cycle in which conflict fuels trafficking and trafficking fuels conflict. Farrugia called for stronger intelligence-sharing, harmonised legal frameworks, and a victim-centred approach that treats trafficked people as survivors entitled to justice.

On emerging technologies, Farrugia noted Malta’s early leadership in establishing regulatory frameworks for digital innovation, beginning in 2018, and reiterated the country’s commitment to responsible development aligned with European standards such as MiCA. He also highlighted the risks associated with cryptocurrencies, including money laundering, sanctions evasion, ransomware, and terrorist financing, stressing the need for innovation to advance alongside strong oversight.

Farrugia further warned of security challenges tied to rapid technological change, such as deepfakes, disinformation tools, and the potential impact of quantum computing on global encryption. He urged coordinated international action to strengthen technological governance and ensure human dignity remains central to regulation.