Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said he will continue his job as Malta’s head of government with more vigour after his name was not included in the list of top European jobs on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists in the Czech Republic, Muscat was clear when asked what he will do now: "I will continue my job as Prime Minister with more vigour."
Muscat had been in the shortlist before the European Council chose German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen as European Commission president and Belgian PM Charles Michel as head of the council.
If he had been given the job, Muscat would have had to resign from PM by October. Over the past months Muscat had said that he would not be leading the Labour Party in the next election, but now that this opportunity has been lost, it is most likely that he will stay on.
In the Czech Republic, Muscat is meeting Prime Minister Andrej Babiš to discuss the outcome of May's European elections and bilateral relations.
Video: TVM