Metsola hits out at Labour claims of being lax on Hungary

Nationalist Party MEP Roberta Metsola has rubbished suggestions put forth by Labour Party MEPs Alfred Sant and Miriam Dalli that the PN delegation has criticised the rule of law in Malta while closing an eye on Hungary.

Metsola has defended the party by saying that whenever the situation in Hungary was discussed in the European Parliament, the PN delegation has always called for action to protect the rule of law.

The only time the European Parliament voted to call for an investigation into Hungary was on 17 May 2017. “The PN delegation voted in favour of action to protect the rule of law,” Metsola said in a press release. “Labour MEP Sant did not, and MEP Mizzi quickly changed her vote after apparently making a mistake. The sheer hypocrisy is striking but sadly, not surprising.”

When Prime Minister Orban visited the European Parliament, Metsola challenged the law directly, explicitly stating that the EPP believes in “will always defend the values [of freedom of speech] whenever and wherever they are under threat, whether it is corruption in Malta by the Government, the watering down of the rule of law in Romania; institutions under pressure in Poland; or what is happening in Hungary,”

“This is what we stand for. Our values have stood the test of time and they are not up for negotiation.”

Metsola went on to say that during the debate, Dalli and Sant did not speak. “For them, silence on the protection of the rule of law is the norm,” she said.

In the press release, Metsola said that the European Parliament has had hearings on, and sent delegations to, Hungary. She accused Miriam Dalli of wanting to go on a trip to Hungary in order to use the trip to imply that the PN delegation is not firm on the issue of Hungary.

“Labour think they can fool all the people all the time. They can’t.”