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7 NEWS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 FEBRUARY 2024 extension ROBERTA Metsola said Malta should be taking in more refugees from Gaza, as she fielded questions on her stance in support- ing Israel's right to self-defence. The European Parliament president, in- terviewed in Brussels by RTK103 host An- drew Azzopardi, said the humanitarian sit- uation in Gaza was catastrophic and that every single killing should be condemned. Queried on her initial stance in defend- ing Israel's response to the Hamas killings, which has now led to the bombings and death of over 30,000 Gazans at the hands of the IDF, Metsola said the EP had been the only institution to call for a permanent ceasefire. Metsola had visited Israel along with Eu- ropean Commission President Ursula von der Leyen following the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas and promised Israel the EU's unconditional support. "We are the sole institution, not even the Council or the UN, has approved a perma- nent ceasefire," she said, referring to the resolution that also makes the permanent ceasefire conditional provided the terror- ist organisation Hamas is dismantled. "If the bombs do not stop – and that's what I said in Israel to its president, for I did not meet [Benjamin] Netanyahu as did [Joseph] Muscat or [Robert] Abela… indeed I expect more refugees from Gaza to be taken in by Malta – we are now awaiting the process in the Hague to see that political responsibility is shouldered," Metsola said. "Even in this fog of war… amid the prob- lems produced by Israeli settlers who claim the land for their own, criminal in its own right, we need to focus on the two-state solution for the Middle East," she said. Not pro-war Metsola pointed out that she had become the target of Abela's criticism on state- ments she recently made about bolstering European defence resources in the wake of Russian aggression in Ukraine. "I see the way One News portrays me in these black-and-white visuals... but Abela keeps mentioning me week after week, and yet he still signs up to the Council con- clusions on defence, he does not abstain or say no to them, so he plays a different game in Malta in contrast to what happens in Brussels." Metsola's EPP Group is a major support- er of a European Defence Union in which member states can increase cooperation and coordination around defence, align strategically, and share a common under- standing of threats. The Nationalist MEP then held up press cuttings of Abela boasting of the AFM's investment in a new patrol boat, suggest- ing that the PM's tub-thumping and de- nouncing her as being pro-war was akin "to a commander-in-chief utterly throw- ing away his own army". "He wants to say Roberta is in favour of war. Is there anyone who believes I am in favour of war when Europe is a project built on peace?" Leadership ambitions and Muscat Metsola kept her options open over any potential leadership bid or retaining her role in Brussels as president of the Europe- an Parliament. The Nationalist MEP said she would fulfil her mandate as MEP until the June elec- tions and said that any agreement on her serving a second term as president of the EP would be dependent on the electoral outcomes. "I do not speculate (on becom- ing leader) ... my job here is to execute my mandate," she said. Metsola was asked about the prospect of former Labour prime minister running for MEP, whom she famously refused to shake hands with during the December 2019 cri- sis when she accompanied a rule of law mission from the EP. She was then not yet president of the EP. "The same circumstances present at that time remain in Malta," she said. "Justice [for Daphne Caruana Galizia] has not yet been made." Metsola said Caruana Galizia was "mur- dered by the system". "A courageous jour- nalist and mother was killed because the system failed her. Look at what politicians did to her. Why should I shake Muscat's hand?" Metsola also said that she was visiting various member states across Europe in a bid to get the vote out for June's European elections, fearing high abstention rates as well as a lurch to the far-right in various countries., "It is our responsibility to reach out to as many people as possible, to be ready to an- swer difficult questions, and explain why fishers and farmers in Malta are asking about what funds we have reaped from the EU, or why young people and families are not keeping up with the cost of living." Metsola said the prospect of a far-right surge concerned her insofar as it could fill in a political void left unattended by mainstream parties. "I want to speak to the people who do not want to vote... I want to convince as many people as possible, es- pecially in Malta, to build on a message of hope for Europe." Metsola: 'I expect Malta to take in more refugees from Gaza' MATTHEW VELLA mvella@mediatoday.com.mt Roberta Metsola: 'I'm not pro-war, it's Robert Abela who speaks differently to when he is in Brussels' depth of 9m, while quarrying of the underlying Globigerina strata suitable for construc- tion is estimated to span a depth of 33m, with enough re- sources for another 10 years. A fuel storage room, gen- erator room, kitchenette, re- stroom and mobile toilets will be dismantled and relocated to the new extension. The restoration of the ex- hausted part of the quarry is envisaged to be carried out in six phases with the first phase being the restoration of the bottom, western-most part, which covers an area of around 4,400sq.m. The res- toration will also address a breach in the cliff-face caused by past quarrying, to be car- ried out by constructing a rubble wall following the same height and contours of the pre-existing cliff face. No photomontages have been presented to show the visual impact of the quarry extension despite a specific request by the PA's design ad- visory committee. The project is now being recommended for approval by a case officer who cited the clearance given by the Envi- ronment and Resources Au- thority.