European Parliament president Roberta Metsola continued to sidestep questions on whether she intends to take up leadership of the Nationalist Party on Saturday, saying only that she intends to “do what is expected of her”.
In an interview with Andrew Azzopardi broadcast on RTK 103, Metsola was asked to clarify where she intends to move forward with her career. She insisted that her priority remains to finish her term as EP president and focus on her re-election campaign to the parliament.
“I was raised to do what is expected of me and to do it to the best of my ability every day,” she said.
“But a lot of people are also expecting you to make a run for PN leader,” Azzopardi countered.
“Right now, this is what I’m focusing on,” she replied.
“I’m going to run as an MEP candidate again and I’m going to work within the PN groups and with the local councils to get our message out.”
Asked whether she intended to offer herself up to be parliament president again, Metsola said it was too early to speculate, as the majorities in parliament are yet unknown.
“I was elected with the support of the Liberals and Socialists, so we had a majority in the centre,” she said.
“I don’t speculate about polls. I believe in expecting the unexpected to keep working. The PN is working and working hard and I am proud to be a part of it.”
Metsola on Gaza war
Discussing the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Palestine, Metsola stopped short of calling it a genocide but said that bombing must stop in the region.
Recalling the backlash she had received on her initial response to Israel’s retaliation of Hamas killing last October, Metsola said that so far the EP has been the only institution to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
“The humanitarian situation is catastrophic and every death must be condemned,” she said.
“We are the only institution that has called for a permanent ceasefire, no one else has asked for it, not even the Council or the UN, but the parliament felt that it must take this responsibility.”
She added that she had also expected Malta to take in more refugees from Gaza.
The issue of settlers in the West Bank must also be tackled while continuing to advocate for a two-state solution, she said.
“Accountability must be taken, but ultimately we are going for peace in the region,” she said.
Metsola on Ukraine
Pivoting to discussing the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, Metsola said that while it is a difficult time for the Ukrainian people, it is important to continue offering support.
“The spirit of the Ukrainian people to continue fighting against this unprovoked war is strong, but when you have this autocracy, I mean, we saw what happened to Alexei Navalny,” she said.
“The system is such in Russia that you cannot even put a flower on a memorial to a slain opposition leader without it being swept up in a minute. You can imagine whether its tenable or not,” she continued.
“Russia has an election coming up, and we all know what the result is going to be. It is important to send a message to Ukraine that we will keep supporting them because we would be shirking our responsibilities if we didn’t do that.”