After Brexit, hunters hit out at ‘dictatorial’ EU

The hunters’ federation (FKNK) has weighed into the Brexit debate, suggesting the vote reflected a “dictatorial” EU.

“The EU persists in treading on individual cultures and traditions, thus alienating itself from the layman European citizen who finds himself at the mercy of a system that completely ignores his individual being,” FKNK chief executive Lino Farrugia said in a statement issued at 11pm on Wednesday. “This may be seen, by many, to be an organised dictatorship against which there is very little that can be done.”

He was referring to the Maltese government’s recent decision to announce a moratorium on the hunting of turtle dove in spring, following recommendations by the European Commission and the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN). It followed scientific findings by the IUCN that European turtle dove have plummeted by 80% in the past 30 years.

MaltaToday was informed that the EC had originally planned to open infringement procedures against Malta for having opened this year’s spring hunting season, but suspended it in light of the government’s moratorium announcement.

Farrugia criticised the EC for its “tendency to unilaterally interpret clauses of the EU Birds Directive” and accused it of “bullying tactics” against Malta.

“In our opinion, the cause of the pitiful situation that the Maltese hunter and trapper has got himself into is EU membership. No more, no less.

“The historic decision by the majority of the British people will hopefully illuminate the powers that be with the fact that decisions taken in Brussels directly affect the lives of human beings, and not robots.

“The decisions fall within a pre-determined system created on a uniform platform by a few that seem to believe that they have God-given rights to dictate.”