Europe Day came and went with a quiet whimper this year as festivities commemorating the 70th anniversary of the Schumann Declaration had to be held in the circumstances that are, for the time being, the new normal.

The border town where I live staged a masked protest complaining that the shut borders on the German side go against the very spirit of the European Union. As our Mayor said, this should not be a region of borders but a Greater Region of collaboration.

The 1950 Schumann declaration emphasised a Europe built on solidarity out of mutual interest: there could only be one way for Europeans to work together and that was for them to understand that working together was in the interest of each and every one of them. The reason for the Union is the betterment of the parts through the whole – e pluribus unum.

The motto is officially that of the United States (and Benfica FC) yet it expresses the spirit that underlies much of the European construct. It is also the spirit that is being touted for life after the pandemic.

The lessons to be learnt from the problems gripping the continent right now include this increasingly important realisation of the interconnectivity in our daily lives and, consequently, of the benefits of coordinating our approaches.

This imperative of collaboration permeates every single member of the Union from the smallest to the largest. Take Germany, for example, the industrious heart of the European economy has come under fire from both within and outside its borders due to recent decisions it has taken on several issues both economic and social. Just like the rest of the Member States, the Federal Republic is still learning that you cannot run with the foxes and hunt with the hounds.

Angela Merkel is often expected to lead the EU by example. Critics of the EU and its actions often prefer to target Merkel in lieu of the Union as a whole. One such critic was a disgraced officer of our Republic, Malta’s ambassador to Finland who, in a post inspired by the migrant saga, thought well of comparing Merkel to Adolf Hitler.

Zammit Tabona is one of the legions of appointed persons who disgrace the offices of our Republic. Was, I should say, because he was summarily dismissed from his position by our Foreign Minister.

Yet. Yet. The Foreign Minister is another of the disgraceful officers of our Republic. His daily rabble-rousing posts on Facebook are a testimony to yet another politician intent on undermining Malta’s role in the EU.

The migrant saga remains intricately intertwined with the situation in Libya – a situation where Malta seems to be prepared to take sides with Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Turkey and against the EU and its programmes.

Bartolo’s daily pleas for help for tiny Malta occur in parallel to a cynical, ruthless policy undertaken by his own government. It includes withdrawing from the EU’s Operation Irini, hiring pleasure boats from his disgraceful ambassador’s Captain Morgan company (for reportedly €10,000 daily payable from EU funds), using these boats to keep migrants at the mercy of the high seas to use as barter, and using disgraced government non-official Gafa’ to perform illegal pushbacks.

Bartolo wants EU solidarity but the wheelings and dealings of the government of the nation from which one of the major arms dealers in Libya hails portray a vastly different picture.

Not all is dark and dreary in Malta. Health Minister Chris Fearne’s department moves from accolade to accolade – at least insofar as dealing with the pandemic. We still have the leftover from the previous disgraced Cabinet’s machinations to deal with though – and this includes the shady deals in the health sector.

Abela inherited most of the disgraced officers from the previous administration and this week he welcomed back the chief disgraced officer of them all, who had the audacity to come up with post-COVID scenarios for Malta.

In normal countries, Muscat would still be in search of an appropriate place to hide his face but the only normality here is the one Abela wants to impose. It has long become apparent that normality means the return of the disgraced officers to their workplaces.

Why the nation should care what Muscat thinks should happen after the pandemic is over is beyond me. This is the Muscat under whose beat, the most disgraced and unfit officer of all, Konrad Mizzi, set up an international car boot sale selling off Malta’s prime assets.

Not one week passes by without a dealing of Mizzi’s surfacing in the scandal section. The excuse for a man is hiding away behind a doctor’s certificate while the nation is still paying for the consequences of his actions, which were sanctioned by Muscat every step of the way.

That is why the Disgraced Office of Joseph Muscat should only be publishing one document: an apology to the nation.

It doesn’t stop there. The disgraced ministers of the Republic have recently admitted to paying for their propaganda on social media using the people’s money. Meanwhile, appointees from the circle of close friends, do not cease to shock the nation with their actions.

If you thought Zammit Tabona’s actions were vile then remember Yorgen Fenech’s latest lawyer recruit, straight from the prosecutor’s office.

Abela’s new normal is not new at all. It is the same disgraceful normal that Muscat and his disgraced team had prepared for Malta since being elected and promising the best of times.

Little wonder that distractions such as migrant issues are pounced upon with such urgency. We get to look at the jingoistic, cynical anti-EU tirades in the name of patriotism while our nation rots, led into oblivion by the disgraced officers of Joseph’s Republic.

Follow Jacques’ blog J’accuse.