BrusselsViewPoint Europe’s 2019 Moments – The Rise and Fall of Joseph Muscat
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Denise Grech takes a glimpse at the most memorable moments in Europe this year.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat started 2019 on a high – he was leading one of the fastest growing economies in the EU, he was helping co-ordinate burden-sharing deals with major power players like France and Germany and he was even aspiring to lead the European Council.
No one could have foreseen the quick succession of events that led Muscat to announce his resignation in December. News that business magnate and 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech was arrested led to an avalanche of revelations that implicated Muscat’s office with obstruction of justice in the Daphne Caruana Galizia’s murder.
This led Muscat to announce his resignation after his chief of staff resigned in disgrace. Maltese people took to the streets in successive protests as the country came to a standstill.
Muscat’s reputation took a hit, with journalists at the last Council summit keeping an eye out to see which EU leaders were still talking to the Maltese PM and his chances of a career in Brussels were gone.
2020 will be a lot of things, interesting is certainly one of them. But you don’t have to worry about it, that is our job. If you want to know where things are going, you won’t find a better source than the team at CiConsulta.
In the meantime, let me take this opportunity to wish you and your families a happy, healthy and prosperous 2020.
