Following yesterday’s vote on the issue of spring hunting and trapping in Malta, Maltese MEPs Simon Busuttil and David Casa said they fulfilled their duty by voting against the resolution.

Dr Busuttil and Mr Casa, who both form part of the European People’s Party and the European Democrats (EPP-ED), said they “voted and worked against the resolution because they did not want a condemnation against Malta on the matter of spring hunting and trapping. Nobody can point fingers on this issue”.

They expressed disappointment that the Labour MEPs abstained from voting against the resolution, particularly since, they said, they carried out a lot of work to lobby against the resolution this week. In fact, the vote included a total of 253 votes against, even if this was still not enough for Parliament not to adopt the resolution.

“We fulfilled our duty. The Maltese Labour MEPs did not even receive the support of their colleagues from the Socialist group. We did not find their support at a crucial moment,” they said.