Married to the EU but No to divorce

Robin Pomeroy writes that Malta's unhappily married couples have three options if they want to live apart. From Reuters:

..Like Bezzina, they can just do it, having children with another partner but remaining married to the first; they can apply for a religious or secular annulment -- in which they have to prove before a tribunal that the marriage never really existed or was based on a fraudulent premise; or they can get what Malta calls a `separation'. With separation, a legal ruling establishes practical details such as the division of property and rights to see children, but the couples remain officially married -- meaning they cannot re-marry and, the law actually states, must remain faithful. "One can but smile when the judge warns the couple: 'Listen: you are now legally separated but that does not mean you can have a partner or have sex with anybody else,' -- when the new partner is waiting outside so they can go off together hand-in-hand," said Bezzina...

"Il-Maltin jibzghu hafna mid-divorjzu"