Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1545385
4 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 JUNE 2026 NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT OF A CALL FOR PROJECT PROPOSALS UNDER The European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund 2021-2027 Compensation to Fishers for the Collection of Lost Fishing Gears and the Passive Collection of Marine Litter from the Sea The Ministry for European Funds, Social Dialogue and Consumer Protection would like to announce that it is launching an open call for project proposals in the following area: Specific Objective 1.6 - Contributing to the protection and restoration of aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems (Marine Litter). This call shall be open to public authorities/entities, local councils, fishers including small-coastal fishers, fishing cooperatives and associations, Non-Government Organisations (NGO's) involved in Marine/fisheries/nature protection, entities and research institutions involved with research/ studies/ assessments in the marine environment and similar. This call will be encouraging interventions that protect and restore aquatic biodiversity and ecosystems. This aims to involve eligible applicants for the collection of lost fishing gears and marine litter, in line with the ambitions of the Single-Use Plastic Products Strategy for Malta 2021-2030, EU's Strategy for plastics in a circular economy and the Single-use Plastics Directive (SUP) (EU) 2019/904. Focus may be placed on the prevention of entry of litter and SUP into the marine environment through actions related to port or other infrastructure amenities for adequate lost fishing gear and marine litter reception. The budget foreseen under this call is € 500,000 in public eligible funds with a co-financing rate of 70%. Applications should be submitted electronically on the Structural Funds Database available at sfd.gov.mt/application by not later than Monday, 14 th September – noon. The online application form for the submission of project proposals and supporting documentation are available on https://fondi.eu/what-funding-is-available. Any queries should be sent by email on fondi.eu@gov.mt. The information session is being organised as per the below: Wednesday, July 1 st 2026, at the Funds & Programmes Division offices – The Oaks Business Centre, Block B, Farsons Street, Ħamrun – from 10:30am till 12:00pm Register for the information sessions by scanning the QR code below: Peter Agius insists questioning foreign voters is not xenophobic PN MEP Peter Agius has de- fended a video he published shortly after the election in which he questioned whether foreigners were given a right to vote. In the aftermath of the 30 May election, the MEP pub- lished a video on social media in which he stated that he had received "hundreds of messag- es from people genuinely wor- ried about the number of peo- ple who voted in the election." Agius clarified that he was not an expert on the subject but went on to shed doubt over the process that determines, which foreigners obtain citizenship and consequently granted the right to vote. Agius said the home affairs minister has the discretion to decide who is naturalised, and that it is diffi- cult to challenge that decision, calling for a more detailed dis- cussion on the subject. Although Agius's remarks im- plied wrongdoing, he provided no such proof in the video. Indeed, he was riding on fan- tastical rumours that suggest- ed the government had given 'hundreds if not thousands of Indian and Pakistani nationals' the right to vote. When contacted by Malta- Today, Agius repeated that a number of people contact- ed him after the election with doubts about foreigners, who voted, "especially when they saw many foreigners celebrat- ing with Labour." He repeated that he has no doubt that the only people who voted were those with a voting document, and whose names appeared on the elec- toral register. "Our doubt is about whether the people who are made citizens are under- going enough scrutiny," Agius explained. The MEP consistently re- ferred to Malta's citizen- ship-by-investment scheme, which was scrapped in 2025, as a source of doubt. Agius pushed back against suggestions that his video comments were simply stoking xenophobia against foreigners who work and live in Malta. He insisted the doubts he ex- pressed are publicly felt, citing the various comments his vid- eo received. But a look at the comments paints a picture of xenophobia and at times, rac- ism. "So, I would understand that that was part of the reason why they imported all those for- eigners. Everything was done with intent long ago, and the PN will always be in a minori- ty," one commenter said, posit- ing the importation of foreign labour as a conspiracy theory for total Labour domination. "Malta is full of foreigners. They'll soon take over, then your crying will be for noth- ing," another said. Other com- ments included people who agreed with Agius, and others accusing him of being incapa- ble of accepting defeat. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the PN said Agius's com- ments "reflected popular senti- ment". The spokesperson said the PN remains committed to do all it can to ascertain that in the election, on- ly those who truly had a right to vote did so. "The party will inves- tigate every report that reaches it," the spokesperson said. In the 2026 election, there were 18,622 new voters added to the electoral register. These would have turned 16 between 2022 and 2026. None- theless, de- spite the number of new voters, those eligible to vote only increased by under 2,000. The electoral process is closely monitored by the two major parties. A look at the list of natural- ised citizens published in the Government Gazette since 2022 reveals that there were 8,216 people between 2022 and 2024, who became citizens of Malta. The 2025 data will be published in December. The list of naturalised citi- zens does not distinguish be- tween children and adults, foreigners who married Mal- tese people, passport buyers and others who may have been granted citizenship for excep- tional reasons. The racist and xenopho- bic rhetoric during the elec- tion campaign was palpable, having sparked off after the announcement of Omar Ra- babah's candidature with the PL. This prompted a wave of hateful messages toward him because of his Muslim beliefs. But Robert Abela and Alex Borg also contributed to the anti-foreigner sentiment when they quickly dismissed with little explanation, the idea of a second mosque in Malta when asked during a debate. Abela even made it a point to em- phasise that the proposal for a super bonus was drafted in such a way to exclude foreign workers. MATTHEW FARRUGIA mfarrugia@mediatoday.com.mt Other comments included people who agreed with Agius, and others accusing him of being incapable of accepting defeat Peter Agius