Four environmental NGOs praised two Nationalist Party candidates who have made the environment their main campaign platform.

The NGOs also defended Edward Demicoli, who last week was at the centre of a boycott by the hunters' federation (FKNK).

The federation urged hunters, trappers and their families not to cast a single vote for Mr Demicoli in June's elections, saying it was "ironic and shameless" that he chose to attack hunting given that he had served as deputy head of the Malta-EU Information Centre (MIC), which had assured hunters that spring hunting would not be affected by EU accession. Mr Demicoli was unfazed, and maintained that the goalposts on spring hunting had shifted three years after accession, following a case in Finland.

The NGOs supported Mr Demicoli's position. "In today's age, Maltese citizens, whether they are hunters or not, have the liberty and wisdom of choosing whom to vote based on their free will and not on medieval directives issued by interest groups such as the FKNK," the NGOs said.

The group, made up of Gaia Foundation, Nature Trust (Malta), Friends of the Earth and BirdLife Malta, said the FKNK administration has no respect for EU nature directives but is only interested in looking after their own interest.

The NGOs said they believe all MEP candidates from across the political spectrum should respect EU nature conservation directives and work for the benefit of Malta's natural environment and not for the benefit of certain interest groups.

The NGOs also mentioned PN candidate Roberta Metsola Tedesco Triccas, who will also be largely basing her campaign on environmental issues.