Maltese MEP Josianne Cutajar has slammed the inclusion of Malta in a rule of law debate in Brussels as a way to “divert attention from Greece”.

During a plenary debate on the rule of law in Brussels, Cutajar said the Nationalist Party alongside the European People’s Party “once again pushed for another debate and resolution on Malta in the European Parliament for partisan purposes”.

“This was clearly evident in the plenary session on the eve of the debate, where the EPP first insisted that the European Parliament should not hold debates focused on particular countries, due to their opposition for a debate on Greece, but once this debate was confirmed, their narrative completely changed, and they started pushing for a debate on Malta to score political points,” the Labour Party said in a subsequent statement.

Cutajar said that it is “not appropriate to introduce a discussion on a Member State to divert attention away from another Member State”.

Her criticism comes after Malta was included in the agenda following the release of private and intimate WhatsApp chats between MP Rosianne Cutajar and businessman and murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.

Following the release of the chats, a court ordered police action against publisher Mark Camilleri, who had broken a 2021 court ban on the chats.

After the court order, MEP David Casa as part of the EPP raised the issue to the European level.

Cutajar ended by pointing to what the European Commissioner Vera Jurova had said about the island, referring to the “positive advancement and reforms undertaken by the Labour Government in the past three years, including to ensure the independence of the justice system in our country”.