Who would have imagined 20 years ago that the western world’s largest elected legislature would be headed by a Maltese woman?

Who would have imagined 20 years ago, among fears that acceding to the European Union would ‘dissolve our national identity’, that our identity is now honoured at this level?

And if it was going to be a Maltese woman, then it had to be Roberta Metsola.

Tuesday marked the most significant milestone in Malta’s relationship with the European Union. Looking back 20 years to Malta’s referendum campaign, it was impossible to gauge just how far we’d go.

We’ve done it because we, the Maltese people, believed we could.

Twenty years ago, Malta was offered a dull, fictional glimpse into a grim future in the EU. We’d be trampled over, we’d lose our competitiveness, we’d lose our sense of self.

Malta rejected the fearmongering. What naysayers said was a risk of being drowned out, the Maltese people saw as a chance to shine. What they said was a risk of becoming homogenised, the Maltese people saw as the moment to affirm themselves.

What they said was a risk of being left behind, the Malta people saw as an opportunity to lead.  And how right the Maltese people were.

Yet this fierce display of hope and confidence did not come after a happy history.

In 1967, the New York Times ran a piece on Malta, describing it as being “condemned by the passage of time... to become what unkind nature made her - a little, rocky island in middle of the Mediterranean Sea”.

“What is left? A speck on the map…”

After independence, Malta was in control of its total destiny for the first time ever. And the tensions that preceded independence would come back to haunt it. For years to come, Malta was viewed with suspicion by the Europe and the US. “Malta has ties with North Korea but not with South Korea,” noted one observer in 1985.

The mentality was what we could sell and how much we get away with, without committing to really bettering ourselves.

We know that statehood is more than a break-even business. On that speck were people who were determined to join the world, who were determined to grow into a serious democracy by giving something back to the world.

In the late 1990s, Malta grappled with its future, and with its past. Accession to the EU, in my eyes, should have been an easy sell. The arguments were strong, as was the opposition. Our ‘Yes’ campaign took place in a typically charged atmosphere, where partisan zeal grips Malta tensely.

Roberta Metsola still believes in consensual politics- David Casa

If the tension was higher, the stakes were higher still. To quote Malta’s lead negotiator for Malta’s accession, “The damage would be to say no to an invitation by Europe and yes to a period of isolation.”

Malta could accept its insularity or heed the call to join the world.

It’s no coincidence that Roberta has contested describing Malta as a ‘small’ country. Roberta is living proof that geography is a hurdle that can be conquered, and that geographies determine countries to a much lesser extent than people do.

I am immensely proud of Roberta. For starters, she is extremely deserving of her new role. Since her student activism at university, politics has proven to be her vocation, a vocation she has conducted with determination and courage.

Her intelligence and stamina alone are not what landed her the role as head of the European Parliament. In an age of division and crisis, Roberta still believes in consensual politics. Her landslide victory is proof that this is still possible.

I am proud to have done my part in supporting Roberta, and I look forward to supporting her in the upcoming challenges that Europe faces.

And I am especially proud of how far we’ve come in 20 years. When I co-founded Moviment Iva, I was guided by my firm belief that it was for the best for Malta and its citizens.

I wanted Malta to move on from being a speck on a map. We deserved more than having to haggle with dictatorships, while struggling to secure assurances from democracies, simply for the basics.

But the New York Times in 1967 concluded with another note, that “Malta will live, for her people are brave, intelligent and resourceful”. Roberta proves that we are so much more than that speck on a map. Europe will certainly benefit from her qualities as she helps lead it through the upcoming crises.

Twenty years ago, I thought the EU would be the best thing for Malta and its citizens. But that wasn’t the whole story. Malta now proves it can itself contribute to this European project. And Roberta Metsola, a young Maltese woman, now at the helm of the union, is making European and Maltese history.