The recently signed French-Libyan nuclear deal is a matter of concern. The official explanation given that the reactor has been sold by France to desalinate seawater to assist Libya’s supplies of drinking water does little to allay our fears. This agreement has little to do with quenching Libya’s thirst and much to do with Libya’s nuclear ambitions and France’s business interests.
France’s plans to build a nuclear reactor in Libya is of major concern to us in Malta as neighbours with the awesome memory of Chernobyl all too vivid in everyone’s minds. But also to the international community, which is wary of allowing potentially a nuclear bomb in the hands of Ghaddafi.
This agreement, barring comments by the Green Party, has been met by a total silence from the two major parties. Not surprisingly exponents of the main political parties look at Libya simply as a land of opportunity, which could open up new revenue streams and employment prospects for Maltese companies. Accordingly the Nelson eye is being turned in accordance with the soulless business axiom propagated by Freedman that the only business of business is business.
We totally disagree. While encouraging the exchange of business with our neighbours, common sense dictates that we give consideration to the safety implications of having a nuclear reactor just 200 miles away from our coastline. This nuclear deal is a threat to the security of Malta and this should be made known in no uncertain way to the French Ambassador in Malta.
Our fears increase knowing only too well that Libya tried to develop nuclear weapons, is ruled by a person who until recently was considered a world pariah, and in whose country vast human rights abuses take place. Libya also has little if any democratic credentials. Trusting Libya under such circumstances and realities is naïve. It is also reminiscent of how Western powers had armed Saddam, South Africa and its apartheid policies and the former shah of Iran. The West paid a heavy price for placing its commercial interests prior to conducting an ethical foreign policy. France may live to regret an agreement.
Malta should make its voice heard also because of the reluctance of the Libyan authorities to stem the illegal trafficking of persons from Africa to Malta and beyond. There is ample evidence that gangs in Libya are organizing the flow of journeys of death from the Libyan coast. Desperate persons are paying large sums of money in advance in the hope of getting to Europe and earning cash to provide for their families back home. Libya is doing close to nothing to stem this flow.
Yet in spite of their inertia all Europe is most reluctant to denounce Libya for fear of winning its displeasure. It is all about business and business interests which European countries hope to foster in Libya. Hundreds die yet Libya gets away with it scot free, no motions of censure in the United Nations, little fuss and all talk in the European Parliament.
We were led to believe that with our entry into Europe we would have a safety net to protect us from any local or foreign tyrant. We believed that this protection included giving us sufficient clout together with our partners whenever our interests were at stake. We find next to no support at all from Europe in stemming this human exodus and even less from Libya. Feeble excuses that the Libyan coast is far too large to patrol do not hold water. It is clear that these criminal gangs are protected in Libya.
One shudders to think if Libya cannot even control a loose number of criminal gangs how trustworthy it will be in its use of nuclear power.
