Camilla Appelgren to contest MEP elections on PD ticket

Camilla Appelgren, one of Malta’s most well-known environmental activists, will be contesting the European Parliament elections next May on behalf of the Democratic Party. 

Appelgren said that the recent spike in environmental degradation had pushed people towards believing that a solution might never be found.

“We deserve to look towards the future with optimism and hope, not sadness and desperation. The time to realise that we shouldn’t settle for less has arrived,” she said. 

The reason behind her candidature, Appelgren says, is that policies and legislation implemented by politicians are not in the people’s interest and fail to look to the long-term future. 

“Activists’ work has become more difficult, and our efforts are not having the desired effects,” she said in an announcement video on her personal Facebook page. 

Camilla first came to Malta from Sweden in the summer of 1999 as an English language student. 

She has since returned to Malta every summer, before permanently relocating on the island in 2011. 

Appelgren founded the Facebook page ‘Malta Clean Up’, and has organised countless clean-ups all over Malta and Gozo, mobilizing hundreds if not thousands of people throughout the year. 

“Malta Clean Up aims to encourage civil action when it comes to keeping our environment clean. We work together with councils and companies in a positive way to become role models for the generation to come,” the group’s description reads. 

"Malta can prove to Europe that change is possible to save our planet, and Malta can lead the way as the very best,” she said. 

Appelgren will be joining fellow PD candidates Anthony Buttigieg and Martin Cauchi Inglott in contesting the elections.