Sven Giegold went a step too far

German MEP Sven Giegold has managed to achieve something that very few people can boast about. As a nation, the Maltese have little that unites them, be it politics, religious feasts or sports, but with his comments to The Telegraph last Sunday, Giegold was able to unite them as one voice against his suggestion that HSBC Bank should close its operations in Malta unless the country does more to confront the scourge of money-laundering. The Greens MEP has a reputation of always fighting against what he believes to be wrong. But, in this case, he has gone a step too far. Saying that a bank which employs hundreds of people should up and leave was bound to lead to a common cry for him not to interfere more than he already has in Maltese politics. People who are normally on his side have also publicly condemned his statement, including members of EP delegations as well as representatives of the Greens Party in Malta.

Speaking to The Telegraph shortly after the last EP delegation to Malta, he said: “If I don’t see a change in attitude backed up by demonstrable action, I will launch a campaign

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calling for HSBC to quit the island.”

It is understandable that there should be calls for money laundering issues to be given the attention they deserve, and for anyone caught to be punished accordingly, but saying that if this is not done a bank should walk out and leave hundreds of citizens unemployed was bound to backfire. Why should HSBC employees be the victims of the Maltese government and Maltese authorities’ inefficiencies? Where would the justice be in that? MEPs have come down hard on Malta ever since it was revealed that Minister Konrad Mizzi and OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri had acquired companies in the secretive jurisdiction of Panama. The issues relating to Pilatus Bank and the use of Maltese firms by questionable individuals over the years have not helped the situation in the slightest. The MFSA and FIAU have come under fire for not doing enough. The government itself has often been the focus of accusations that it has allowed corruption to grow. Neither must one forget that a number of EU countries have also taken aim at Malta’s taxation regime in the past, arguing that it is unfair. MEPs from a number of countries, including Germany, tend to see the taxation regime as something which should never have been allowed in the first place, and consider it bad practice from the outset.

But for Giegold to go as far as to suggest that one of Malta’s largest employers calls it quits crosses a red line.

Giegold has often been accused by supporters of the government of being in cahoots with the Opposition, always at the ready to attack Malta.

Now that even the Nationalist side of the political fence has come out against his declarations, Giegold has made more enemies. He has lost more of his credibility, and anything he says from now on will carry less weight than it did just a few days ago.

He should have been more careful not to step on Malta’s toes.