Navigating polarisation Malta’s two-party dynamics in the 2024 EU election

Abstract

On 8 June 2024, Maltese voters joined the rest of the EU member states in selecting their sixth representatives for the European Parliament. With a population of around 563,000 over an area of 316 km² (122 sq. mi), Malta is the smallest EU member state. The governing Nationalist Party applied to join the EU in 1990; however, it took until 2004 for Malta to become a member alongside Cyprus and eight member states from Central and Eastern Europe. Since joining the EU, the role of the country’s MEPs has grown more important, with increased media and political attention on their work. This was particularly true for Roberta Metsola, who was elected President of the European Parliament in 2022. Following the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, debates emerged within the European Parliament regarding the rule of law, democracy, and freedom of the press in Malta. These issues sparked controversies over how MEPs should approach these debates, particularly concerning the national interest. The national interest would also become a point of contention in Malta’s electoral campaign for the 2024 EU Elections.