Libya |
Malta |
Libyan-Maltese relations are foreign relations between Libya and Malta. Both countries established diplomatic relations soon after Malta’s independence. Both countries had very close ties and cooperation during Dom Mintoff’s governments. Libya has an embassy in Balzan and Malta has an embassy in Tripoli.
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During the Mintoff years following Independence of Malta, Libya had loaned several million dollars to Malta to make up for the loss of rental income which followed the closure of British military bases in Malta;[1] These closer ties with Libya meant a dramatic new (but short-lived) development in Maltese foreign policy: Western media reported that Malta appeared to be turning its back on NATO, the UK, and Europe generally.[2]
History books were published that began to spread the idea of a disconnection between the Italian and Catholic populations, and instead tried to promote the theory of closer cultural and ethnic ties with North Africa. This new development was noted by Boissevain in 1991:
...the Labour government broke off relations with NATO and sought links with the Arab world. After 900 years of being linked to Europe, Malta began to look southward. Muslims, still remembered in folklore for savage pirate attacks, were redefined as blood brothers.[3]
In 1980 an oil rig of the Italian company Saipem commissioned by Texaco to drill on behalf of the Maltese government 68 nautical miles south-east of Malta had to stop operations after being threatened by a Libyan gunboat. Both Malta and Libya claimed economic rights to the area and this incident raised tensions. The matter was referred to the International Court of Justice in 1982 but the court's ruling in 1985 dealt only with the delineation of a small part of the contested territory.[4][5]
Malta and Libya had entered into a Friendship and Cooperation Treaty, in response to repeated overtures by Gaddafi for a closer, more formal union between the two countries; and, for a brief period, Arabic had become a compulsory subject in Maltese secondary schools.[6]
However, following the termination of the Mintoff government and backed by popular sentiment, Malta abandoned its fledgling relationship with North Africa and returned its attention and allegiance to Europe.
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