The European Council’s conclusion to postpone a decision as to steps to be taken on the Mediterranean migration issue is shameful, AD deputy chairman Carmel Cacopardo said.

In a statement this morning, Mr Cacopardo said that the decision means that, at the moment of truth, the European Council was incapable of putting into practice the European values of respect towards life and human dignity."The EU has for years been postponing decisions on real and practical solidarity on the Mediterranean migration issue as an EU issue."Malta should publicly support the positions taken by the European Greens and recently reiterated by EU Parliament President Martin Schultz on responsibility sharing and the reform of the Dublin II Convention as well as the creation of legal migration channels into the EU," it said.

Mr Cacopardo said the Greens in Malta supported the Maltese Government’s insistence, as supported by the Greek and Italian governments, that immigration on the Mediterranean border of the Union was an EU issue like any other.

"AD understands that it is necessary that the Maltese Government uses strong language in its criticism of the EU position, yet it hopes that its decisions are such that the human dignity of the immigrants is respected at all times."