Prime Minister Robert Abela said Tuesday that he will remain consistent, that he will never express himself against fellow Maltese in the EU, but rather he would strongly support them, referring to incumbent European Parliament President Roberta Metsola's nomination for the same role.

Abela was addressing Parliament in a ministerial statement, where he spoke about what was discussed in, and the conclusions of last week's European Council Summit meeting.

Abela said that despite the divergences in positions he has with Metsola, when it came to supporting her for her reappointment, national interest prevailed, and he chose to support her fully.

On the contrary, the PN have tried to "destroy" persons such as Chris Fearne in his nomination for EU Commissioner, who is not in their political camp, Abela said, accusing Opposition Leader Bernard Grech of being hypocritical, as he has recently seemingly taken an opposite position, supporting Fearne in light of the alleged smear campaign against him.

Abela began his speech by saying that undoubtedly, there were various results bearing different messages from EU citizens of EU Member States. Each affected party had their own interpretations of those messages, yet the Maltese government "cannot remove itself from the people's priorities," Abela said.

Abela spoke of the strategic agenda for the next five years, where the Council discussed several themes, including discussions on the nominations for the President and Vice President of the European Commission.

On defence and security, he mentioned two agreements signed by the European Commission President as well as with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the conclusions of which were reflective on Malta's reality on its position on neutrality and non-alignment.

Abela, in reply to PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami's comments on the agreement, which he quoted saying that the agreements push for an increase in defence and security, said that in Malta's case, this does not include lethal weapons, and also highlights the neutral reality of the country, without prejudice towards the country's defence position.

These were included in previous conclusions, Abela said, adding that Malta will continue securing this position with regards to defence and security.

Abela reiterated that the agreements respect Member State's politics. He mentioned the situation in the Middle-East, where he said that Israel's operation in Gaza must stop, and the hostages taken by Hamas must be released without conditions.

He spoke about competitivity, where Malta as a member state wants to continue promoting other important values such as those in favour of justice and governance, along with other principles such as that of the Single Market, which should work equally for all EU citizens, including in access to medicines, especially for countries like Malta whose geographical position places it on the periphery of Europe.

Abela also mentioned the immigration and asylum pact, to take into effect in the next two years, adopting the politics of prevention, relocation and return, balancing it with responsibility.

He congratulated the elected MEPs in last month's election, and encouraged them to bring Malta's interests first.

Abela also accused Grech of taking different positions on the energy sector, resorting to scaremongering the public on energy's stability, while government protected the strategic incentive of keeping energy subsidies to alleviate the burden on the people.