Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat on Wednesday said Foreign Intelligence Services have informed Malta about alleged Russian meddling in her upcoming general election.
One of the allegations is that Muscat’s wife, Michelle, is linked to a secret Panama company, claims which led to street protests and are believed to have prompted an early general election on June 3.
Muscat said his country’s security services had been informed that the Russian who made the allegations and was initially hailed as a whistleblower had actually invented the story, allegedly as retaliation for Maltese actions that displeased Russia.
Another allegation includes refusing to allow in November the refueling of Russian ships on the way to Syria.
Malta said that doing so would make it complicit in the tragedies stemming from that country’s war.
The Panama charges were also allegedly in retaliation for Malta’s role in pushing the EU’s Ukrainian visa waiver programme.
Russia has been accused of destabilising parts of Ukraine in an ongoing proxy war.
Speaking during a news conference, Muscat said the information had been relayed to Malta by “security services in allied countries.
He, however, added that the Maltese government had no evidence that those behind the Panama story were related to the Russian Secret Services. (NAN)