Alternattiva Demokratika – The Green Party condemns the government for not respecting the EU Birds Directive and opening spring hunting for yet another time irrespective of all its empty rhetoric about sustainability.

Simon Galea, AD Spokesperson on Agriculture and Animal Welfare said:“Apart from not respecting the EU Birds Directive and going counter to the policy of sustainability the government puts the entire country at risk of legal action by the EU Commission. Providing the EU with dubuious data for birds killed in autumn based on information supplied by same hunters and the lack of enforcement together with years of repeated failures in this respect puts the same country’s credibility at stake. It is a fact that numerous cases of illegal hunting were reported between the 12th and the 30th April.”

Ralph Cassar, AD Secretary General, said: “While AD always stuck to a clear position against spring hunting it is a shame that a PN led government is permitting such a practice while the PL is clearly defending hunters’ interests. Now that a general election is close the electorate have the right to know where all political parties stand. While Lawrence Gonzi’s government is bending over backwards to accomodate hunters, Joseph Muscat is especially silent on this issue too. Spring hunting is definitely not what the Maltese electorate voted for in the EU accession referendum. It is clear that PN and PL are both ignoring the will of the majority of the people when they bend over backwards to pander to the hunting lobby.”