Tag Archives: Public Safety

When Critical Systems Age, So Does Our Security

Russian sabotage across Europe has surged, exposing how ageing systems, private‑sector gaps and fragile submarine cables leave the continent open to quiet disruption. This commentary looks at why these weaknesses matter and why policymakers can’t keep postponing the hard decisions that protect the systems holding Europe together. Continue reading

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AFM Aircraft Investment and Sustainability Challenges

This commentary looks at Malta’s new €50 million aircraft investment and asks the harder question behind the headlines.
While the upgrades are welcome, the article digs into the long‑standing pressures on the AFM’s air wing, from small‑fleet fragility to post‑warranty costs and the loss of the Italian Mission’s backup helicopter.
It explains why new platforms alone don’t solve the deeper sustainability and resilience issues that shape Malta’s real operational capability.
The piece invites readers to think about what it takes to keep these aircraft flying reliably over the long run, not just the day they arrive.
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Malta’s Drone Blindspot: Neutrality Is Not a Defence Strategy

Malta is still treating drones as if they’re a future problem, when the rest of Europe has already moved on. Airports abroad are being disrupted, energy sites probed, borders tested — and the EU has responded with detection grids, counter‑UAV doctrine, and rapid‑response layers. Meanwhile, we’re still arguing about neutrality as if a hostile drone will stop mid‑air to read our Constitution.

We have one airport, one main port, one power station, a few desalination plants, and a handful of subsea cables. A single drone incident in any of these would hit the whole country. That’s not drama; it’s maths.

Neutrality never meant refusing sensors, refusing training, or refusing the ability to detect a threat before it’s overhead. It meant staying out of alliances — not staying blind.

Europe adapted. The threat arrived. We’re the only ones still standing still.
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