Government ‘no closer’ to signing SOFA agreement than it was over past years

The government is ‘no closer’ to signing a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) with the United States of America or NATO than it was over the past years, the Foreign Affairs Ministry said yesterday evening, while adding that no such agreement currently exists.

It was reported in the press that the government was moving towards signing such an agreement with the United States of America, possibly as a way to instigate a more favourable American review of Malta in the Moneyval assessment later this year.

A SOFA agreement establishes the rights and privileges of foreign personnel, including the military, in the host country – in this case, Malta. The SOFA deal reportedly proposed a form of “concurrent jurisdiction”, which would allow both Maltese and American courts to have jurisdiction over United States personnel and equipment in Malta.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Robert Abela was questioned by journalists on the issue. He said that any SOFA and the upcoming Moneyval assessment are “distinct from one another.”

Asked whether the deal is due to money laundering, with the implication being that it is in return for a favourable review from the USA, Abela said that no deal has been signed and that what is discussed in Cabinet must remain confidential. He stressed that any agreement signed will be signed transparently.

However it was here that Abela added a key remark, saying that he is “surprised” at how on one hand there is a push, which he agrees with, to do everything – not just to pass the Moneyval test – but to fight money laundering in general; and on the other hand there is “resistance that, when this government seems to truly be reacting because it is convinced on its own principles, there is a whole attack against us in order for us not to do anything."

"It’s the same with the reforms we implemented on the rule of law and governance – first there was a lot of criticism that we did nothing when in truth we did a lot; now suddenly it's like nobody likes what we are doing – let's be consistent.”

Abela, however, clarified when asked again that he could not understand the ties between any SOFA and Moneyval, and said that the two are “distinct from one another.”

Asked by this newsroom about concerns related to how an agreement such as this may affect Malta’s neutrality – as stated in the country’s constitution – Abela said that any agreement that may be signed will “safeguard the principles of our constitution and our country’s laws.”

Asked why the agreement has come about now, after years of discussion, so close to the Moneyval assessment, Abela said the very fact that it has been on the discussion table for years shows

that it has nothing to do with the Moneyval assessment, because years ago there was no such assessment taking place. The SOFA deal was reported by Times of Malta on Tuesday morning, and will reportedly be one of the key points of discussion in a visit to Malta by the US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper on Wednesday.

In a statement, the PN said that the Labour government needs to be clear in its intentions when it comes to any SOFA deal with the USA, noting that it is worrying that no consultation on such an important matter has been held with the Opposition.

“This is especially the case when such an agreement could have major repercussions on the country’s relations with countries besides the USA,” the PN said.

The statement reads that Malta is independent and sovereign and has a neutrality and nonalignment clause enshrined in the constitution. Such a decision, the PN said, by the Cabinet will have an impact on the Constitution – the country’s highest law – and may also have an impact on the country’s sovereignty too.

“Prime Minister Robert Abela has the obligation to properly explain the Government’s position and the impact that such a deal would have on the country and the Maltese and Gozitan people,” the statement continues.

“In view of what was published, and the seriousness of it, it would be fit and proper for the Labour Government to clearly declare what its intentions are.”

The statement was signed by PN leader Adrian Delia and the party’s foreign affairs spokesperson Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici.