Has anybody noticed that foreign affairs have hardly come up, at least not in a very direct way, two weeks into the election campaign? With Malta’s foreign policy now strictly geared to Brussels this is not surprising, but many of us ageing journos certainly miss the interesting little twists of interpretation we could give to ideological partnerships, developing international and regional scenarios, and the frequently inevitable bombastic antics of interfering ambassadors.

For better or for worse, today all roads lead to the Belgian capital, also de facto capital of the European Union. Each and every member state is expected to consciously weave its foreign policy around EU decisions and declared standpoints, an obviously cumbersome baggage that comes with membership. It is very rare that a member state strays away from the official EU line, and that usually comes from one of the “big guns”, like France, Germany and the UK, at moments in time when they are seeking to reassure a discontented electorate.

There was a time, of course, when our foreign policy took centre stage before and after general elections. Post-independence administrations needed to show they had a foreign policy, or a semblance of it, after years of toeing the colonial line. This was predictably associated with some naive influence on domestic, mundane issues, such as the acquisition of annual scholarships and, when an important vote at the United Nations was about to be taken, the guarantee of Malta’s vote going the way of its former masters and rulers.

After his deserved but hard-earned electoral win in 1971, Dom Mintoff quickly put an end to all the servitude – so often taken for granted by the Western powers – and initiated a long period of real political independence in the international arena, but not without paying a price for it. From the word go, he had to seek the urgent attention – and generosity – of Libya’s then benevolent dictator, Muammar Gaddafi, who had been in power for only two years, when it was discovered the previous Nationalist administration had not left enough funds in the national coffers to pay its civil servants.

Like many other former British colonies, Malta soon joined the Non-Aligned Movement where it sought to emphasise its Mediterranean profile. This eventually developed into a remarkable balancing act between the continued friendship with neighbours Italy and France in the north with the beckoning lure, in terms of trade and exports, of Libya and the other Arab states on the North African coast to its south.

A strong and independent foreign policy also opened the way to the vast showcases of the ex-Soviet Union and China. Mintoff played one diplomatic note after the other by attracting not only business to and from these places, but also the funding of infrastructural projects that required expertise and technological know-how. The Chinese, who had warmly acknowledged the historical fact that the Maltese prime minister was the first Western leader to visit Beijing after US President Richard Nixon, were to feature prominently in many joint ventures and national projects, foremost among them the construction of the Red China Dock for super-tankers that saw Western antennae going rigidly erect overnight.

Again, there was a price to be paid. The Western media fell upon Mintoff and his Labour government like a pack of hungry vultures. The whole scenario was of course also highly influenced by the Maltese demand for the payment of much higher rates for Britain to retain her military base on the island until its agreed closure in 1979. Malta was graphically depicted as a hive of secret agent activity, mostly from the Soviet Union, Cuba, Libya, China, while, amusingly, the Western boy scouts were said to have refused to play ball on that same Maltese platform.

Foreign policy was a major bone of contention even on the domestic front. Government and Opposition resorted to obvious little displays of gamesmanship. One boasted we were at last free to decide for ourselves and, in the process, to be friends with one and all, regardless of size and ideology, while the other insisted Malta was on the verge of being Cubanised, Libyanised and possibly run by Chinese all wearing the same Mao suit.

That nothing of this ever happened – nor was it ever contemplated as a final goal – is a tribute to the then government’s resilience in the face of incredibly unfair scaremongering on the part of both local and foreign adversaries. Malta was exploiting its geographical position to seek assistance from whoever happened to be ready to offer it, whatever the creed, colour and ideology. The national economy was the prime beneficiary as tourism, export-oriented industries and services flourished, a fact recognised at the time by even the most vociferous of critics.

It was fun for most of us bored hacks, really. Even more fun meeting colleagues from the international media who flew over to try comprehending it all (I vividly remember one American lady journalist visibly shocked at seeing the hammer-and-sickle logo on the chimney of a Soviet vessel undisturbedly undergoing repairs as we drove past the then profit-making Malta Drydocks!), and lunching with overweight and outspoken ambassadors who provided good quotes but hardly anything else.

When Labour finally had to bite the bullet in the late 80s and a change of government took place, things changed swiftly. Foreign policy, however, remained high on the agenda, particularly when Guido de Marco was running the Nationalist government’s foreign affairs ministry. The Arabs were suddenly confirmed as attractive business partners to deal with, the Palestinians were no longer regarded as terrorists and, wait for it, the Chinese did not really want to turn Malta into a hot, boiling Mediterranean base for their as yet limited navy.

The Western powers, who preferred Malta to be buried body and soul deep within their bosoms, could hardly contain themselves, and so began the long and winding road to full EU membership. The story is recent enough to ignore the details. Malta’s choice was, more or less democratically, made, and hopefully the future for her was and will be a lively and committed role within the European circus, based on a foreign policy that has to deftly find its way past the many ifs and buts around Brussels.

There have been and certainly will be some exceptions, thank goodness. A case in point was the recent vote at the United Nations on the issue of a status upgrade for the Palestinians. While the UK timidly chose to abstain, Malta was happily one of the overwhelming number of nations who voted for the upgrade, much to the chagrin of the United States, Israel and a handful of their lackey nations, sadly including Labour-ruled Australia.

There’s still a long way to go in the 2013 election campaign, so the foreign policy issue may be brought up, perhaps not so eagerly, at some later stage. Not that there is anything serious left to discuss, unless the so far unsolved question of constitutional reforms resurfaces at some point.