As Malta prepares to host the Commonwealth summit in November, as well as Queen Elizabeth’s visit, one very busy man is involved in it all. Josanne Cassar sits down to lunch with British High Commissioner Vincent Fean at Rubino in Valletta
High profile meetings with various dignitaries, and appointments with representatives of companies connected to the UK, are all in a day’s work for the British High Commissioner. As he describes what a typical morning is like, it is clear that Mr Vincent Fean’s life has to be run like clockwork.
For this interview, the choice has once again landed on Rubino, much to Julian Sammut’s delight. A sign on the wall says it was established by Vincenzo Rubino in 1906 and, in fact, next year the restaurant will celebrate its 100th anniversary.
“I chose Rubino because the food is a mixture of sources: it could be French, Italian, Maltese. It’s very intimate, you feel as if you’re in somebody’s home. I know my host reasonably well and it just feels like a warm, friendly place to be. I haven’t had anything but happy times here.”
As if to confirm this, a smiling Julian immediately brings us our starters – meze dips with eggplant, olives and anchovies.
London’s bid to host the 2012 Olympics.
“I think the key competition we have is with Paris. If we win the bid it will mean economic renewal of parts of London that need it, as well as improved transport infrastructure such as the speeding up of Crossrail (the development of two new routes through London). It was scheduled to happen anyway – but it will happen faster. Plus it means kudos for the country. But we’ll have to wait for the decision on 6 July,” he says in his rather staccato manner of speaking.
Closer to home, however, Mr Fean has more pressing things to think about, namely the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting between 25 and 28 November which will be opened by the Queen of England. Queen Elizabeth will arrive with the Duke of Edinburgh on 23 November for a two-day visit. This will be the fourth visit by the Royal couple, who have happy memories of the island from when they lived here for a while as newlyweds.
On his lapel Mr Fean is sporting a London 2012 badge, which refers, of course, to
“Those were very carefree times when Prince Philip was stationed in Malta as captain of the HMS Magpie and Princess Elizabeth was a Navy wife. It was a very friendly, neighbourly place and there was no need for any security. In fact, when I went to Buckingham Palace to be given my appointment as High Commissioner, I spoke to one of the Ladies-in-Waiting. She said: ‘Are you going to Malta?’ When I said yes, she told me that whenever a letter arrives with a Maltese stamp, they put it on top of the pile and rush it down to wherever the Queen is so that she can read it. She wants to see anything from Malta first.”
I can’t help but remark on how casually he said “When I went to Buckingham Palace…” and I ask whether he still finds it intimidating.
“Well, early on yes, when I got my first High Commission job. The responsibility of representing a country is a big one. You have to get it right and you have to think laterally as well as keeping on the track of your predecessor. But it’s also fun; it’s fun here in Malta especially and we’re getting a lot of houseguests! In fact, a recent guest told me: ‘Vince enjoy this, it doesn’t get any better!’ It’s not just our lovely residence at Villa DeGiorgio but the whole ambiance. Walking into this restaurant I met at least seven people I know,” he adds with a smile.
Our laid-back lifestyle is obviously to his liking.
The preparations for the Queen’s visit are well in hand.
“We have a colleague in the High Commission who is responsible for the State visit and she liaises with the Office of the Prime Minister to make sure everything happens on time and so on. It will all go very well, because Malta is extremely efficient at organising these things.”
I can’t help but express my surprise at this, but he assures me it’s true.
Which brings us to the Commonwealth summit. The Commonwealth is an association of 53 self-governing independent nations and various dependencies (colonies and protectorates) that were all once part of the old British Empire. Wherever Common-wealth member states have an embassy, it’s called a high commission, and the ambassador is known as the high commissioner.
“At the moment all Common-wealth representatives are working on preparations for the summit, to make sure their delegations are happy. It’s going to be a huge operation for Malta, but a big opportunity as well. Over 1,000 journalists will be showcasing the island at a good time of year, there’s a lot to see and a lot to show. It will help to put Malta on the map in terms of cultural tourism.”
When Mr Fean joined the Foreign Office as a young man straight out of university, it was because he wanted “a job for life”. What it gave him was a career that, as can be seen from a glance at his CV, has been as varied as it has been interesting. He had already studied French and German, so he decided to choose Arabic as an area of study (“there are 21 British embassies in the Arab world,” he points out), which meant he was posted to such far-flung places as Damascus and Baghdad.
“The Arab world has energy supplies which the West will always need, so there are economic ties between Europe and the Middle East which means again, a security of tenure. Plus I really like the Arabic language.”
Back home, perhaps one of his most important jobs was his role in terrorist hostage cases involving British citizens.
“That was quite harrowing, yes. Whenever a kidnapping occurs of a British citizen abroad, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office gets involved. It is the liaison with the Home Office, the agencies, the Ministry of Defence and the police. My job was to coordinate the government’s response to all those people and the liaison with the families of the hostage. By definition, whenever you have that situation, the law has broken down so you don’t have the usual channels to produce a solution. For instance, in my time, there were kidnappings in Kashmir, Cambodia, Chechnya, Yemen and the Congo. British government policy has always been not to give in to the hostage-takers, because it sets a bad precedent for others, but that’s quite difficult to explain to the relatives.”
In the three years he was there, he handled cases that ended well, with the hostages eventually being released, but there were also others that ended terribly.
“All of us were given counselling training, of course, especially for those who had to deal with the families, because they would get as upset and involved as the relatives themselves. They would get enormously drawn into the problem and become very sympathetic to the needs of the family.”
Speaking about his own family, he explains that his now grown up children have inherited a love for the French language, and have each spent a year in France.
“They were always with us, wherever we went. The two girls were born in Damascus and my son was born in Baghdad.”
What’s it like for children of diplomats to always be moving around?
“It gives you good inter-personal skills. They can relate to people pretty easily in any environment because they’re used to change and addressing people they didn’t know well before. They’re not shy and they can talk on just about anything. On the downside, you have to keep changing schools and that’s a problem. We were lucky because when they were of school age we came home to London. When we went to Brussels they came with us where we put them in an English private school, then back home again. In Paris they went to a school that was as good as any British secondary school. We came home for about six years to see them through their ‘A’ levels and university. So when we came to Malta, they were old enough to fend for themselves.”
If a diplomat’s children have to be flexible, then a diplomat’s wife has to be even more so.
“Yes,” Mr Fean agrees. “Because it’s true that while my career has been coming along, my wife Anne’s teaching career has been disrupted by my travels. She now teaches at Chiswick and it gives her some space of her own, to have her own profession.”
Our lunch arrives. Mr Fean had the spaghetti marinara in tomato sauce while I had the fresh tuna in balsamic vinegar with salad.
The way that a career diplomat is posted to various countries has changed over the years. In the past, there was a Central Postings Unit which would determine where you went on the basis of your skills and background and you had to go wherever they sent you, without your having much of a say. Nowadays, there is a running list of jobs that are coming up and you are invited to bid for the countries you wish to go to.
“Regardless of whether you are at home or abroad, you are competing against your peers for a particular job. That means you are always a volunteer for anything you’ve bid for, so then you can’t say ‘I don’t want to go’.”
Being posted to Malta, where there is a relatively stable political climate, has certainly been one of his most pleasant experiences.
The fact that we love to socialise at the drop of a hat doesn’t hurt either.
The work of the British High Commission includes the offering of practical advice, assistance and support to British citizens visiting or living in Malta. The commercial section maintains and develops the trade and investment links between the two countries. Several strong UK companies have invested in Malta, such as HSBC, De La Rue and Vodafone.
The British High Commission also works closely with the British Council, which primarily focuses on educational and cultural exchanges between the UK and Malta.
“Increasingly, we are trying to facilitate Maltese talent going to the UK – people like Renzo Spiteri have already benefited from this. We are also very hopeful that Renzo will play a part in the Commonwealth cultural activities that will be a backdrop to the actual summit.”
Mr Fean believes that the wealth of cultural events on the island is impressive for its size and it is often difficult for the British Council to decide which group to help.
It works the other way as well, with talented people from all sectors of the Arts being brought over from the UK to give performances and workshops. In fact, next week there will be a lecture at the Malta Maritime Museum by the Northern Irish curator of the Titanic Exhibition.
“We like to bring over multi-ethnic groups as well, because the UK is becoming more and more a microcosm of the world. You can speak 300 languages in London alone and what that means is that we’ve got a bit of everything and our job is to let people know about that diversity. What we look for is cutting edge, and not necessarily mainstream talent.”
Other long-standing ventures that fall under the British High Commission include the Chevening scholarship, which provides for Maltese post-graduate students to go to the UK for a year for an MA or MSc.
“At the moment I think we have 17 or 18 students there, with another 12 going up this year. This is important because it helps to encourage other young people to think about the UK as a place for study. There’s a lot to be said for a one-year stay in the UK. The idea of spending some time in a different culture, taking the best of what it has to offer and bringing it back, is good. It broadens the mind, it really does.”
Julian stops by, mildly exasperated with us because we keep talking and the food is getting cold… so we obligingly have a short break before picking up the interview once again.
Mr Fean likes to emphasise the areas in which Malta and the UK have an affinity, such as the opt-out clause regarding overtime which was recently an issue within the EU.
He would like to see the strong ties which have always existed between the two countries further strengthened. One way of doing this is by looking at towns in Northern Ireland and Wales, which have similar problems and requirements, and then asking for EU funds to help both sides.
“There are EU programmes for which you need two or three partners, so it would be a win-win situation.
But there has to be a native interest which will withstand my departure so it will then have a life of its own. For example, one possibility is more cooperation through the EU, between Gozo and the Isle of Wight, another island with access issues and tourism issues.”
With five months to go until the summit, Mr Fean explains how it is all going to work.
“The head of the task force, Ambassador Salv Stellini, is coordinating the logistics, while the Foreign Ministry is coordinating the policy content together with the Office of the Prime Minister. As for security, we are working closely with Police Commissioner John Rizzo on any issues where Malta might want to look at our own experiences. Since we have the G8 summit coming up in July, we would be very happy if we could share our experiences of that with Malta to see if there is anything we went through on the ground that could be useful. As I said earlier, Malta is very good at organising these things and it is a great conference venue, which will definitely be demonstrated by this summit.”
As our plates are cleared away, Mr Fean surprises me by addressing the waiter in Maltese: “Hadna gost, grazzi hafna”.
This is not just a one-off phrase either – he and his wife are having weekly lessons at their residence where they are taught how to read, translate and converse in Maltese.
“I like the language and I respect it. The truth is that I think if you are in any country, you should try and learn the language, at least just to understand what is going on around you. Maltese is a very strong, resilient language.
“On the day this interview appears I will be doing my best with speaking for two minutes in Maltese at the end of my speech at the reception held in honour of the Queen’s birthday.”
It’s time for Mr Fean’s next appointment, and as we are leaving the restaurant I test him on another sign in Maltese which accompanies an old sepia photo of a group of 18th century gentleman seated around at table: “Ikla mal-hbieb mhawnx isbah minna” (there’s nothing like a meal between friends).
The British High Commissioner translates it perfectly. Of course.