I had to change this editorial several times as the Iraqi situation has changed and deteriorated rapidly. Early this morning the pre-battle stage ‘Operation Iraqi Freedom’ has started and Baghdad military targets have been hit…all in the best of international interest. In the press conference, George Bush said that the coalition is made up of 35 countries. The play with words about morality and war in the same sentence is very disconcerting. Is this a moral war for Bush and a holy war, a Jihad, according to Hussein? Chirac said that he disapproved that the attacks started without the United Nations approval. Shroeder said that that war was the wrong decision. The divide on this issue within the European Union countries is worrying. What about the extensive environmental damage that is being incurred?
It has been a hectic month for Malta to say the least as we were in the throws of a heavy campaign for a referendum concerning the accession in European Union. The party in Government (Nationalist) wants to join the EU while the party in Opposition (Socialist) wants only to have some form of agreement with the EU, what is being referred to as a ‘partnership’. As Malta is politically heavily polarised, the campaign was aggressive. The result was 53.1% voting for accession in the European Union although according to Labour Party, this result is open for interpretation. We had our local council elections as well and the Greens did very well by electing 3 candidates. Well done and keep up the momentum! On the 12th of April, Malta will have the general elections which will seal the result of the referendum. We are living in exciting times!
During the general assembly of FYEG 2002 , some of you emphasised the importance of political discussions within the organisation. I urge all of you to give your feedback so we will have a newsletter which we are all proud of. In this edition you will find FYEG’s statement about the Iraqi war. We urge you to continue giving your support in the various actions that are taking place. Our regular articolist Bianca Zammit wrote about human trafficking. Ska and Christian from Gruene Jugend and Josephine gave us a clear picture of what happened in their GA. In this edition we will meet DEM Youth and also we get to know a little better Simo Salmela. A much awaited article was written by Michel Smicht which deals with Henry Kissinger. I hope you will enjoy reading this edition of the ecosprinter as much as I enjoyed preparing it!