Malta needs to be monitored just like Poland and Hungary, European Parliament president Antonio Tajani told La Repubblica in a warning on Malta’s rule of law.

"You can't adopt two weights-two measures," Tajani told leading Italian newspaper La Repubblica.

Tajani went a step further by seemingly likening Prime Minister Joseph Muscat with Russian President Putin and Turksih President Erdogan. “We need to be strong and determined, otherwise how can we argue with the likes of (Russian president) Putin and (Turkish president) Erdogan?”

Tajani said there were worrying trends in Malta. EU passports should not be sold, at least until seriously verifying the identity of the buyers, for security, terrorism and money laundering reasons.

“We cannot just be concerned about Russian politics. There's also the Russian Mafia and it wouldn't be right to recycle money in Europe because of Maltese passports."

He said it was not too late for the Maltese authorities to investigate Pilatus Bank, after its chairman was arrested in the US.

Tajani said the EP needs to continue putting its spotlight on Malta. Any investigation should not pit one political side against the other but it should be done to establish the truth.