US Ambassador bids affectionate farewell

Surrounded by her three children, outgoing American Ambassador Molly Bordonaro left Malta yesterday with the intention of coming back with her family "as tourists and friends".

As she expressed her affection towards the island that has been her home for the last three years, her youngest daughter Skylar, three, peeped out from behind her. Brooke, eight, stood in front of her while Colt, six, played with a toy plane oblivious to the photographers snapping away.

"In the past few days we've breached protocol a few times," Ms Bordonaro said jokingly, explaining that, on Thursday night, the family's last night spent in Malta, her children had 18 friends sleep over.

Some children even turned up at the airport to bid goodbye to their American friends whom they had grown close to over the past three years.

On a personal note, Ms Bordonaro said she would be holding on to the memories she had of Malta where she enjoyed the country and its rich history.

She said the ties between Malta and the US had always been strong and she hoped to have contributed to strengthening this relationship.

On Thursday, Ms Bordonaro was awarded an honorary membership of the National Order of Merit, bestowed upon her in recognition of her contribution to US-Malta relations.

Her contributions included the Double Taxation Agreement, the Visa Waiver Programme for Maltese citizens travelling to the US and the introduction of the US Voluntary Resettlement Project that saw hundreds of refugees going to the US.

Following her tenure as ambassador, Ms Bordonaro will be working in commercial real estate development in the private sector.