Being elected as a European Parliamentarian is not a prize, but a duty, President George Vella said.

In his meeting with recently elected MEPs, the President congratulated them on their election and reminisced about his own time campaigning.

The Nationalist Party MEPs were notably missing from the meeting, with the President saying that while all six MEPs had been invited, David Casa and Roberta Metsola were not unable to attend after they received an urgent call from Brussels.

The Labour Party MEPs elected were incumbents Alfred Sant and Miriam Dalli, and newcomers Josianne Cutajar and Alex Agius Saliba.

Vella expressed that he wished to see them to do what is in Malta’s interest, while paying particular attention to the differences in what would be beneficial for larger or smaller countries.

Focusing on the election, the President was happy that what he saw was a “fair, serene, democratic and transparent election”, also noting that there was equal gender representation, including a representative from Gozo and various levels of experience.

“There will be new challenges with how the EU is now, which is different from how it was when you left.”

Overall, he maintained that it must be Malta that comes first and foremost.