Neutrality has been the cornerstone of Malta's foreign policy for decades now, and today the country commemorates the day that this neutrality was truly put into practice.
Freedom Day commemorates when on 31 March 1979 the last of the British military presence departed the country and when the NATO base that there was situated in Malta was shut down.
Neutrality was the brainchild of Labour Party leader Dom Mintoff, and when he became Prime Minister in 1971 he immediately embarked upon a process to implement his idea of non-alignment for the quite recently independent Malta.
Within 24 hours of coming to power, Mintoff expelled Admiral Gino Birindelli - the chief of the NATO Mediterranean Command Fleet - from the country, and then set about renegotiating the renewal of Malta's defence agreement with Great Britain.
The defence agreement was subsequently renewed, but it set 31 March 1979 - 47 years ago to the day - as the day that the British would depart the country. That is, indeed, what came to pass.
Malta officially joined the Non-Aligned Movement in 1973 and Mintoff continued to attempt to bridge the gap between Europe and Arab states. The Labour Party's manifesto in 1976 proposed that Malta would enter into a four-nation guarantee for Malta's security neutrality - these nations being Italy, France, Libya and Algeria. In the end, only Italy would give that guarantee in 1981.
Neutrality up until that point, though, was merely the foreign policy of the government of the day. It was not enshrined as it is today - that required changes to the constitution, which in itself required both major political parties - the PL and PN, to agree.
In the end, neutrality was enshrined in Malta's constitution as something of a quid pro quo. The PL had been re-elected to government in 1981, but only by winning the most parliamentary seats and not the absolute majority of votes cast. The PN, by now led by Eddie Fenech Adami, did not accept the result and embarked on a campaign of civil disobedience to force new elections.
Negotiations between the two parties led to a deal being struck in 1986: Malta's electoral laws would be changed to ensure that the party which wins the absolute majority of votes would govern but only if the PN would back changes which would entrench Malta's neutrality in the Constitution.
That agreement came to pass in January 1987: Malta's Constitution was changed to include the country's neutrality and Malta's electoral laws were changed in order to avoid a repeat of the 1981 elections - and in fact resulted in the PN winning the 1987 election.
Malta's Constitution defines the country's neutrality as follows: "Malta is a neutral state actively pursuing peace, security and social progress among all nations by adhering to a policy of non-alignment and refusing to participate in any military alliance."
This is what Prime Minister Robert Abela has in recent months summed up as "active neutrality" - and it is a policy that has served Malta well in the past years, particularly as the world becomes more and more conflict-ridden.
It has given Malta the credibility to take on important international roles in worldwide bodies such as the United Nations Security Council, the Council of Europe, and the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
The most recent war in Iran has also proven the importance of neutrality. Several countries in the Gulf such as Qatar, Bahrain, and the United Arab Emirates have been the target of missile attacks owing to the presence of foreign military assets on their soil. Cyprus - an EU country like Malta - was also targeted.
Obviously one cannot have a crystal ball and predict whether Malta would have suffered a similar fate - but the probability would certainly be higher than today.
What's certain is that Malta's active neutrality has been handled extremely well over the years, making the country a valued international partner to everyone.