Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola said she will not be intimidated by hateful comments uploaded on social media by former V18 artistic director Mario Azzopardi.

Azzopardi uploaded a photo of the MEP, with the following text: "It is so difficult not to hate this sick woman. How can she sleep at night knowing that the country hates her with a passion. They hate you, Roberta."

In the ensuing commentary, Azzopardi also referred to Metsola as a "traitor."

Reacting, Metsolsa said she was initially going to refrain from commenting but decided to pass on a message to youths who are thinking of going into politics.

"Politics are not what this man makes them out to be. Politics are about values, principles, issues that affect people, ideas and working for a better country. Don't let anyone like him discourage you."

She assured Azzopardi that his insults and hate would not scare her. On the contrary, they give her more determination, she said.

This is not the first time that Azzopardi has courted controversy. In 2014, he had been forced to apoligise over a rant on Islam, and in 2018 he apologised after calling a young activist a "sorry bitch."

Recently, Azzopardi used his Facebook profile to attack one of our journalists for asking a question in English during the daily Covid-19 briefings.