[WATCH] Azzopardi’s Tel Aviv hotel stay ‘wrong’, Roberta Metsola says

Newly elected European Parliament Vice-President says Jason Azzopardi’s decision to accept free hotel stay from Tumas Group was wrong but insists nothing should deflect the party’s attention from the fight for truth and justice

Roberta Metsola
Roberta Metsola

Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola has admitted that MP Jason Azzopardi’s decision to accept a paid Tel Aviv hotel stay by Tumas Group was wrong. 

“Jason Azzopardi has already cited his reasons for taking that decision, and he was pretty clear from his end,” the newly-elected First Vice-President of the European Parliament said.

In March 2017 Azzopardi accepted a three-day stay at the Hilton in Tel Aviv to be paid by Tumas magnate Ray Fenech, after having himself requested Fenech to assist him in finding a hotel in the Israeli city.

Fenech is the uncle of former Tumas CEO Yorgen Fenech, the alleged mastermind in the Caruana Galizia assassination.

At first Metsola deflected questions by journalists by stating Azzopardi’s explanation on the case was clear-cut, and that nothing should deflect one’s attention from the PN’s fight for truth and justice. 

The MEP was then asked whether, given Azzopardi’s statements on the trip, the decision to accept the gift was acceptable. “If you had to ask me whether it was a mistake, I would say yes. But he issued a statement on the issue. Despite everything, I insist that nothing will deflect our attention from the fight for truth and justice,” she said. 

The MEP met Nationalist leader Bernard Grech following her appointment as European Parliament Vice-President. 
Metsola thanked the party and the country for the support they have shown her. “This appointment honours the party’s long-standing European vision,” she said. 

Bernard Grech said the party has always believed in local individuals having the ability to leave an impact at a European level.  He said Metsola’s appointment celebrates the PN’s vision in having the country present at the highest levels of decision making in Europe. “You are making the country proud,” Grech told the MEP.