John Dalli

Former European Commissioner John Dalli yesterday issued a statement to decry what he termed as the “buddy buddy” relationship that exists between Nationalist Leader Simon Busuttil and Olaf director general Giovanni Kessler.

Mr Dalli referred to a story that appeared last Sunday in newspaper Illum which reported a conversation that purportedly took place between Dr Busuttil and Dr Kessler when the latter was returning to Brussels following a brief stint in Malta to testify in the criminal case involving the snus affair, which led to the former minister’s resignation from the EU executive.

“So Simon Busuttil and Giovanni Kessler are very good friends. Simon and Giovanni are on a first-name basis and close enough for Giovanni to cross the barrier between business and economy class in an aeroplane to go and talk to Simon,” Mr Dalli said, demanding that the two explain this “close” friendship by publishing full details of their meetings.

The statement is an attempt to turn the tables on the two. Dr Kessler has been Mr Dalli’s accuser ever since the EU Anti-Fraud Agency published a damning report in October 2012 which concluded that the former European Commissioner was likely to know that his canvasser Silvio Zammit – the only person ever charged in relation to the case – had asked for money to change EU legislation in his portfolio, a claim strenuously denied by Mr Dalli.

Meanwhile, Dr Busuttil and Mr Dalli fell out when the PN leader accused Joseph Muscat of intervening to stop the former European Commissioner from facing prosecution in Malta. The Prime Minister has denied the claim.

In reaction, Dr Busuttil said Mr Dalli was free to continue living a lie if he so wanted, “but he should not draw me into his lies”.

Dr Busuttil said that it seemed as if for Mr Dalli, betraying his own party and causing untold damage to Malta’s reputation in Brussels was not enough.

“I spoke to Mr Kessler for the first time ever last week when I happened to take the same flight as him to Brussels... My so-called ‘friendship’ with Giovanni Kessler is a figment of John Dalli’s imagination. Still less did I ever attend the same ‘clubs’ or ‘groups’ as Mr Kessler.”