It was not only a highly informative occasion, but also a most enjoyable one for the audience present, which included several diplomats accredited to Malta. Among these, there were the Ambassadors of Italy, the Federal Republic of Germany, the People’s Republic of China, Tunisia, France, and The Netherlands, the High Commissioners of the UK and Australia and the Chargé d’Affaires of the Russian Federation.
The foundation’s chief executive Leslie Agius, who chaired the proceedings, referred to Dr Francis Cachia’s academic qualifications, his linguistic abilities, his writings and his diplomatic career.
He then gave the floor to President Emeritus Dr Ugo Mifsud Bonnici who stressed the historical value of Dr Cachia’s book. The fact that almost all the items in the book were originally published in a newspaper does not detract from their value as records of the times. In fact, they were more valuable than many files kept in offices that are hardly ever consulted by researchers. President Mifsud Bonnici quoted a verse from an Italian poem saying that posterity had the hard task of judging past events; books like Dr Cachia’s would be an immense help to them.
The next speaker, President Emeritus Dr Censu Tabone, stated that it was not true that history repeated itself, but that people repeated the same mistakes in different circumstances. Dr. Cachia’s book gave people an excellent opportunity to consider the positive and negative aspects of world and local events seen from the Maltese perspective in their historical context. This will allow them to avoid mistakes and inspire them to undertake positive initiatives.
Presidents Tabone and Mifsud Bonnici discussed together their experiences and reminiscences in contacts with ambassadors accredited to Malta, during their term of office. They both remarked that Malta was very lucky to have had such capable and amiable diplomats serve in our country.
The author, Dr Francis Cachia then took the floor. He referred to what he considered the chief, special feature of his book: it provides a clear instance of the democratisation of diplomacy in our day and age. It illustrates how in the modern age of speedy and extended communication, globalisation of interest and increase in the democratic way of thinking, official diplomacy is addressed not only to governments and heads of state, but also to peoples and to the people themselves! An advantage of the book is that one does not need to read it consecutively for each article is complete in itself.
He urged readers, however, to begin with the excellent preface by former Foreign Minister, Dr Joe Borg, the first Maltese EU Commissioner, who explains very well what the book is all about and how and why it was composed!
Finally it was the turn of the ambassadors present to give their assessment of the book. In different ways, they all expressed their appreciation for Dr. Cachia’s work and stressed its usefulness for any researcher wishing to research the decade 1993-2003 and Malta’s role in international diplomacy during that period.
The proceedings were concluded with the singing of ‘Happy Birthday’ for President Censu Tabone as the following day happened to be his 91st birthday.