Alternattiva Demokratika this morning called on the Prime Ministers of Malta, Italy and Greece Joseph Muscat, Matteo Renzi and Antonis Samaras to “cut it out with your empty promises”.

Referring to Dr Muscat’s meeting with Mr Renzi yesterday during which the two Prime Ministers pledged that, together with the Greek Prime Minister, they were going to press for European solidarity on the irregular migration issue during the Greek and Italian presidencies this year, AD chairman Arnold Cassola said: “You have been harping for years on the need of solidarity and you got nothing; you have threatened to resort to the pushback of migrants and you got nothing.

"In reality, you have been unable to persuade your fellow socialist and Christian Democatic Prime Ministers to show their solidarity. They have given you the cold shoulder. So please, stop taking for a ride the Maltese people with your empty words on burden sharing.”

Prof. Cassola said the Greens persuaded all their European Green colleagues that the Dublin rules had to be totally overhauled to allow migrants to move on to Europe from Malta.

“It is now your duty to get a concrete pledge from all your European Socialist and Christian Democratic colleagues to do likewise. Until then, please, stop uttering the usual platitudes that you have been repeating for years on end," he said.