First NATO Parliamentary Assembly summit for Maltese MPs

Carmelo Abela (PL) and Beppe Fenech Adami (PN) represented for the first time the Maltese parliament in NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly held in Montreal, Canada.

The 70th summit of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly was held between 22 and 25 November and this was the first time that a Maltese delegation attended. The Maltese parliament voted unanimously last year to become an associate member of the NATO assembly with Malta's request being accepted during a summit held last May in Bulgaria.

The NATO PA is made up of 281 delegates from 32 NATO member countries. Each delegation is based on the country’s size and reflects the political composition of the parliament.

The annual session was divided into two parts. The committee meetings consisted of five main sessions covering Defence and Security, Economics and Security, Science and Technology, Democracy and Security and the Political Committee. Each Committee covered its own agenda and adopted respective reports and resolutions.

The programme also included thematic discussions which included topics such as ‘Meeting the China Challenge,’ and ‘NATO and Strategic Competition in the Arctic’.

These panel discussions were conducted in an informal setting during which participants shared their views.

During the session discussing ‘Strengthening Democratic Resilience after a Super Election Year’, Beppe Fenech Adami spoke about the impact of artificial intelligence in the proliferation of fake news and the impact this may have had on the outcome of election results. He spoke about the need to address this fast-growing phenomenon.

In a different session, Carmelo Abela spoke about sanctions and their effectiveness, arguing that sanctions do not seem to be achieving the purpose for which they are imposed. This was also reflected in the report that was presented to the Committee.

Abela said when sanctions are imposed, the most vulnerable should not be the ones to pay the price. In his intervention he asked the rapporteur for his thoughts and suggestions for a way forward on sanctions and the possibility of secondary sanctions. 

The summit ended with a plenary meeting on Monday, addressed by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and Raymonde Gagné, Speaker of the Senate of Canada.