No farewell to Malta

Having spent a little over four years as ambassador of Libya to Malta, my tenure came to an end last month. As per the usual protocol procedure, I received a notification from the Foreign Ministry with a list of ‘farewell calls’ I should make on a number of high-ranking Maltese officials, including President George Vella, a dear friend who I have had the pleasure and honour of knowing for many years.

Though most proper in its context, the word ‘farewell’ struck me as odd. The idea of saying farewell to an island with which I have had close ties, in different capacities, since the mid-1990s did not sit well with me.

As long as we are still on the surface on this earth, we should never say farewell to places or friends. The more appropriate word should be the French ‘au revoir’.

Outside my own country, Libya, I lived for prolonged periods in the US and Malta, ironically being the ‘macro’ and the ‘micro’ in geographic terms. Both shaped my experiences and world view in significant ways. In the vastness of the US I searched for infinity, while in the blueness of the Mediterranean engulfing Malta, I searched for inner peace.

I realised more and more that though we as human beings are finite and limited, God has provided us with a universe with infinite possibilities.

I had the honour of serving twice as ambassador to Malta. My second tenure started in November 2018. Relations between the two countries were at a rather low point then. Malta had no representative in Tripoli and the beautiful villa, which once housed the Maltese embassy in an upscale district of Tripoli, was abandoned and dilapidated, standing witness to years of inner struggle in Libya.

Thanks to the dedicated efforts made by Libyan and Maltese officials over the last four years, Malta now enjoys excellent relations with Libya.

There is a fully functioning Maltese embassy in Tripoli, with an active consular section, issuing Schengen and Maltese visas to Libyan citizens, and others. Citizens of Libya and Malta can now visit and work in both countries, and there is a fully functioning Libyan consulate in Malta.

Important agreements between Libya and Malta need to be reactivated as they were suspended after Malta joined the EU- Saadun Suayeh

However, more still needs to be done to encourage freedom of work, study, and movement for Libyan and Maltese citizens alike. Important agreements signed between Libya and Malta in the late 1980s safeguarding basic freedoms for Libyan and Maltese citizens need to be reactivated as they were suspended after Malta joined the European Union.

However, quite a few important memoranda of understanding and agreements have been signed lately in the fields of energy, transport, health, education, and several other areas. Cooperation in the field of combatting illegal human trafficking and all sorts of smuggling activities is at an all-time high. Visits at the highest levels are regularly exchanged between officials of both countries.

Most important, as I have always emphasised, the strategic bond between Malta and Libya, shaped by history and geography, should always remain a guiding principle for policies. Malta can undoubtedly play a pivotal role in helping reshape Libya’s destiny and march towards democracy and stabilisation. 

Regional and local players may have a vested  interest in maintaining the status quo but ultimately it is the Libyan people who can decide their fate and rebuild a united Libya that can be the jewel of North Africa and the southern Mediterranean.

On the personal level Malta will remain a part of me as long as I am alive. As I argued in my article entitled ‘The Malta that I cherish’ (Times of Malta, November 12, 2022), the island has to preserve its essence which is a unique cultural fabric woven by millenia of cultures and civilisations .

Like many of my Maltese friends, I would love to see the island develop and modernise, but in so doing it has to safeguard its soul.

This soul is not to be found in the high-rise buildings dwarfing their surroundings, but in whatever is left of Malta’s pristine countryside, the little chapels, the flickering candle lights of churches, the glittering meandering bays adorned by colourful luzzus, with the ‘Eye of Osiris’ at the bow guarding fishermen against evil, the village squares, the old ladies chatting in front of their homes, the lazy cats taking their endless siestas and so many other little things that capture the artistic eye.

I may be an incurable romantic searching always for my own utopia, but may God bless my beloved Libya and the Malta that I cherish, and guard us all against the greatest evil of all times, namely losing our souls.

Saadun Suayeh is the former ambassador of Libya.