Mediterranean Bedfellows

The Phoenicians brought us sea-faring, the Knights built the Auberges, and the British brought with them the trappings of Anglo-Saxon culture, coupled with a fledgling military-based naval industry. During World War II, our rocky island became known as “the unsinkable aircraft carrier” of the Mediterranean.
But while Northern Europe has played a considerable role in shaping Malta’s present and future, our past is intrinsically tied to southern lands – something our Semitic-based language accurately reflects.
The bond, broken through centuries of European domination, was only recently re-forged. Within the last 30 years Libya, in particular, proved instrumental in assisting Malta to become an independent republic both financially and economically – forging a bond between the two countries that endures to this day.
Former Prime Minister Dom Mintoff played a crucial role in fostering the friendship between Libya and Malta. Ranking high amongst Malta’s top influential and significant politicians who undeniably left their mark on the islands, Dom Mintoff was determined to strengthen ties between Malta and Libya since the moment he stepped into his first term as Prime Minister in 1971.
Years later, his dedication did not go unnoticed. In August 2008, Dom Mintoff joined prominent leaders such as Hugo Chavez and Nelson Mandela in being awarded the Al-Gaddafi Award for Human Rights.
Reserved for “international personalities, bodies or organisations that have distinctively contributed to rendering an outstanding human service and have achieved great actions in defending human rights, protecting the causes of freedom and supporting peace everywhere in the world,” the prize served as a testimonial to the lasting bond of collaboration and mutual understanding that Dom Mintoff was able to achieve during his term in office.
A man of great vision and drive, Dom Mintoff’s motivation to explore Malta-Libya relations stemmed largely from his dissatisfaction with the existing agreement with Britain over Malta’s status as a colony as far back as July 1971. Talks began in earnest while Dom Mintoff was negotiating the rent Britain paid for being allowed to station troops on the islands, something he was dead set against as part of his pursuit towards Malta’s stance of “active neutrality.”
By August of that year, press reports were circulating that Libya was willing to help Malta financially without any strings attached. That same month, Mintoff’s first request for financial assistance was met with immediate funding of $3 million, allowing Malta a stronger position in its negotiations with Britain and concreting the collaboration between the two countries.
1973 marked the start of a conscious, focused policy of cultural rapprochement between Malta and Libya, affectionately termed ‘blood brothers’ by Dom Mintoff himself, who worked to foster and establish industrial and economic links between the two countries. Over the next three years, two Libyan Cultural Institutes opened in Malta, and hundreds of Maltese workers found employment in Libya.
Both countries prospered, as Libya benefited from the skilled and able Maltese workforce, while these, in turn, were able to bring back to an industrially-developing Malta the technical training and know-how they received abroad. In 1975, Malta also entered into an agreement with Libya over the purchase of crude oil at profitably preferential prices.
The years between 1982 and 1984 saw Dom Mintoff guiding Malta through a significant number of initiatives aimed at fostering cultural and economic ties. Visa requirements were waived for Libyan nationals entering Malta, and Ordinary Level matriculation Arabic was introduced as a compulsory entry requirement for university.
More importantly, a “Treaty of Friendship and Co-operation” was signed between the two countries, in response to repeated overtures by Libya for a closer, more formal union between the two countries. The treaty also included security protocols within which Libyan forces pledged to train and arm Maltese counterparts. In later years, a ferry link between Malta and Libya served as Libya’s only official lifeline to the rest of the world.
The increasing familiarity between the two nations did not go unnoticed. Media speculation, coupled with the increasingly negative reputation that Libya was fast-garnering thanks to alleged connections with terrorist activity, placed considerable strain on relations.
But on 26 October, 1995, the bond of brotherhood between the two countries was hit hard when Fathi Shqaqi, leader of the Palestinian terrorist organisation Jihad Islamika was shot dead outside the Diplomat Hotel in Sliema, allegedly by Mossad agents. The shooting sparked furious protests outside the Maltese embassy in Tripoli, and the ferry service between Malta and Libya was suspended for a number of months.
Since then, the relationship endured, but not to the degree it once was. Following Mintoff’s departure from Government in 1987, successive governments led Malta further way from Libyan interests and explored a future for our country as a European Union Member State.
Despite this, relations between Malta and Libya remain healthy. On a financial level, considerable investment is made regularly made on both fronts, leading to the mutual economic prosperity that both countries enjoyed of old. With time perhaps, and the right approach, relations between the two countries could once again be nourished to bloom into what they once were.