NATO'S presence in Malta : strategic importance and operation (1949-1971)

Abstract

The building housing the Headquarters of NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation), in Malta, was located at Floriana and was quite visible to most of the people leaving the capital city, Valletta. It served as a reminder that Malta was a military base of both the British and NATO. The Headquarters became operational in 1953 and were closed in 1971 at the request of the new Maltese Government under the leadership of Mt Dominic Mintoff, who had also been elected as Prime Minister in the same year. The period that the presence of NATO in Malta is divided into two parts. The first period was from 1949 to 1964, when Malta was a Crown Colony and therefore under the direct rule of the United Kingdom. Although Malta had self-government during the period, it could not legislate on foreign affairs and defence. In this arrangement, Malta was part of NATO, and Article 5 of NATO, which protects all NATO members in the case of an attack, also applied to Malta. The second period starts in 1964, when Malta became independent. The protection of Article 5 was lost, and Malta had to negotiate an arrangement with NATO to overcome this obstacle. Malta was also told that it would be better if it did not apply for membership with the Organisation. The two periods saw changes in how NATO could operate in Malta. The research will examine these two periods and also how the Maltese Government of an independent Malta operated with NATO between 1964 and mid-1971. This was a Nationalist Party Government that had very pro-Western views, but that also, at times, was disillusioned with both NATO and the British government, and how the government dealt with Britain and NATO between 1964 and 1971. There was a change in government in Malta when the Malta Labour Party, under the leadership of Dominic Mintoff, was elected in July 1971. The new Government immediately started to change things around for NATO in Malta. The negotiations changed completely between July 1971 and March 1972, until a new financial agreement was finalised with the United Kingdom. However, this agreement would not have come about if NATO members had not contributed financially to secure this agreement. The work will show how NATO, amongst others, used Malta to perform its exercises in the Mediterranean. How it valued Malta and its strategic position in the Mediterranean. It's dealing with the Maltese people when incidents, mostly concerning fishermen. The expenditure made by the organisation in Malta. The work shows how NATO would have tried to defend Malta in the case of it being attacked by enemies and also indicates the nations that NATO thought could make such an attack. The work shows how much the importance of Malta was regarded by NATO, as in the message by the United States of America, President Richard Nixon, to the British Prime Minister Sir Edward Heath regarding the crisis in relations between Malta, the United Kingdom, and NATO in the very early 1970s.