The president of the Federation for Hunting & Conservation – Malta (FKNK) has written to the German Ambassador in Malta to protest about the 'unwarranted incidents that the Maltese Nation has witnesses over the last weeks as a result of actions by the German organisation that calls itself CABS'.
The FKNK explained that CABS were intent on marring the healthy and mutually beneficial relationship in place between Germany and Malta in a democratic European context.
“Why do we now have to subject ourselves to a situation whereby CABS deem fit to slander not only hunting on Malta but the Maltese on a German public television station RTL ...” the FKNK asked.
“The actions of CABS during a spring season that was legally authorised by local government under derogation from the “Birds” Directive should have been, for hunters, a peaceful and recreational event as hunting is for over 7 million counterparts in Europe. Unfortunately, CABS have managed to transform this season into a war zone to the extent of using a military reconnaissance aircraft without the necessary permits and fly this machine over private property whilst filming without authorisation or consent. I am sure that you agree that no European citizen should have his privacy invaded illegally and with unauthorised methods.”
The federation said the end result of the actions of CABS was a feature film on RTL television and clips of it running constantly on U-Tube and other web-associated media. This it said, was a film that depicted, not the 2012 spring hunting season, but years of clips put together to maliciously infer that this all happened in three weeks. "A film that depicts the Maltese as aggressive individuals and Malta as a third world country with its citizens having no respect for nature at all."
The federation said illegal activities in the field do not only occur in Malta but worldwide, and it was completely unfair and unfounded for anyone to pick on the smallest Member State, where everyone was known and everything was visible due to the small size of the islands and to capitalise on individual issues and portray them as the order of the day.
"These actions by CABS have not only touched on hunting on Malta but on the Maltese as a nation and here the problem is aggravated because it is seen as unwarranted and uncalled for interference by a German organisation, that the Maltese will defiantly accept."
The FKNK requested a meeting with the Ambassador and requested his intervention with a view to finding a 'rational solution' to this state of affairs.