The country was owed an apology and an explanation as to why two of the three Labour MEPs made a mess of a critical vote on immigration last week, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.

Louis Grech voted in favour, John Attard Montalto against and Glenn Bedingfield did not vote on whether the EU should introduce obligatory burden-sharing. The vote also called for a change to the Dublin II Convention so that immigrants can move freely around Europe without being sent back to their country of arrival.

The voting problem was then rectified, after Mr Bedingfield argued that his voting machine did not work and Dr Attard Montalto claimed that he had confused the buttons.

Dr Gonzi called these excuses "scandalous" and said the Labour party had ridiculed the country in front of Europe.

"Here they speak like lions, wanting to eat everyone and use the veto, and then they make a mistake on which button to press. How can I go to Europe now to make Malta's case heard when the Labour MEPs made a mockery of the country?"

He questioned whether the MEPs even knew what they were voting on or whether they had actually read the documents.

Dr Gonzi said that the elected Nationalist MEPs would be working on four major pillars in the European Parliament: work, solidarity, environment and values.

He explained that the government was willing to let the deficit grow "a little" to safeguard employment.

The Nationalist party would continue to ask for solidarity with Europe on illegal immigration but would continue to emphasise the importance of respecting all people. He said Malta would continue to abide by its ethical, moral and international obligations but would ask for help and support from EU member states and international organisations.

He also emphasised the importance of values and said that his party did not use words like "progressive" but spoke concretely on issues such as the family.