Maltese envoy to Finland quits after comparing Merkel to Hitler

The Maltese ambassador to Finland has resigned following a controversy created over one of his Facebook posts that allegedly undermined German Chancellor Angela Merkel, reported the national broadcaster Yle.

The ambassador, Michael Zammit Tabona, who had served in Finland since 2014, in the Facebook post compared Merkel to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler.

On 8 May the European countries celebrated Victory Day marking the surrender of Nazi Germany's forces and the end of World War II.

"Seventy-five years ago we stopped Hitler. Who will stop Angela Merkel? She has fulfilled Hitler's dream! To control Europe," the Yle report quoted the Facebook post of Tabona as saying.

The post, however, was deleted later.

Maltese Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo asked the ambassador to delete the comment, the local media reported.

Bartolo also said that the Maltese government would apologise to Germany about the incident, adding that he would emphasise to diplomats the importance of responsible and proper behaviour on social media, said the Yle report referring to a Maltese newspaper, the Times of Malta.