Sven Giegold

Malta/Rechtsstaatlichkeit: EU-Parlament fordert EU-Gipfel zu Positionierung auf

Das EU-Parlament fordert die Staats- und Regierungschefs in einem Brief auf, bei ihrem heutigen Treffen ein Statement zur Situation in Malta abzugeben. In einem zweiten Brief fordert das Europaparlament EU-Kommissionspräsidentin Ursula von der Leyen auf, Untersuchungen im Rahmen eines Rechtsstaatsverfahrens gegen Malta einzuleiten. Am Dienstag wird das Europäische Parlament in Straßburg eine Resolution zur Situation in Malta debattieren. Am Mittwoch folgt die Abstimmung darüber.

Dazu erklärt Sven Giegold, Sprecher von Bündnis 90/Die Grünen im Europäischen Parlament:

“Zu den Problemen bei der Rechtsstaatlichkeit in Malta darf der EU-Gipfel nicht schweigen. Die europäischen Regierungen dürfen nicht die Augen verschließen vor der Kultur der Straflosigkeit bei Korruption und Finanzkriminalität auf Malta. Das Gleiche gilt für die EU-Kommission. Malta ist der erste Test für von der Leyen im Bereich Rechtsstaatlichkeit. Europäischer Rat und Europäische Kommission müssen nun klare Worte finden und handeln.”

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Brief an den Präsidenten des Europäischen Rats, Charles Michel: https://sven-giegold.de/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Letter-President-Sassoli-sent-to-Mr-Michel-on-the-latest-developments-in-the-murder-case-of-journalist-Daphne-Caruana-Galizia.pdf

Brief an die Präsidentin der Europäischen Kommission, Ursula von der Leyen: 

“Dear President Von der Leyen,

In March of this year, the European Parliament adopted a resolution winding up the work of the Rule of Law Monitoring Group, focusing in particular on Malta and Slovakia following the murders of investigative journalists Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jan Kuciak and his fiancée. Since the adoption of the resolution, Malta major developments have taken place in Malta.

After two years of very little visible progress in the investigation, recent weeks have witnessed a rapid sequence of events, including resignation of government members and their entourage, arrests of suspects in connection with the murder case, the granting of a pardon and further pardon requests, witness statements incriminating persons close to the Prime Minister, as well as growing public unrest and people taking to the streets.

Last week, an ad hoc European Parliament mission was sent to Malta. Members of all political groups participated in the mission. The leadership of the EP decided to send this urgent mission in light of the latest developments in the investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia as well as in light of the latest political developments.

The findings of our mission are very concerning and require urgent action. The state of the murder investigation and political developments in Malta require a prompt reaction form the Commission. We of course acknowledge and value the public statements you made last week in relation to Malta, as well as the statements made by Vice-President Jourova.

Furthermore, the concerns expressed in the March EP resolution, echoing those in the reports of the various bodies of the Council of Europe (Venice Commission, MONEYVAL, GRECO, PACE), the European Banking Authority and the European Commission itself, have not been allayed. We fear the separation of powers may be under threat, and very serious crime investigations may well remain unresolved. This will compromise EU police and justice cooperation, the integrity of the Schengen area, the internal market and all other EU policy areas that rely on mutual trust and respect for the rule of law.

The EP resolution reiterated its call on the Commission to enter into dialogue with the Maltese Government in the context of the Rule of Law Framework. To date, the Commission has not followed up on this call. By way of this letter, and especially in light of the recent developments, we once again urge the Commission to activate the procedure at the shortest possible notice, and take any other steps that will contribute to ensuring the rule of law is fully upheld in Malta.

With kind regards,”

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