This story was told to me at Miss Mabel Stricklands villa in Lija in 1973 by a member of the British House of Lords, who was one of the intimates of Lord Carrington, then United Kingdom Secretary of Defence. Because Jozef Luns was still very active in international politics at the time, I wrote it down for my university’s VU Magazine. I posted it a few days earlier on Facebook especially for my Dutch friends who still remember Luns. For those of my Maltese friends who do not master Google Translate I now present the English version as well.
When Malta became Independent in 1964 the British troops still stayed on the island. When Dom Mintoff became Prime Minister he wanted to set a date to end this situation and demanded much more money for the remainder of their stay. Mintoff went to London to renegotiate the deal made by his predecessor Borg Olivier. His British counterpart was Lord Carrington (1919-2018), in those days Defence Secretary. The negotiations, held in a rather unpleasant atmosphere, were broken off without any result. Now NATO came in as the alliance was afraid Mintoff might help the Soviet Union to a stronghold in the Mediterranean instead.
In those days my Dutch compatriot Dr. Joseph Luns (1911-2002) was Secretary General of NATO. Luns, who had been Minister of Foreign Affairs in eight successive Dutch governments between 1952 and 1971, was a skilled negotiator. Before het was going to meet Mintoff Luns was warned by Lord Carrington for ‘this rather nasty little man’. Luns replied that het had met quite a few world leaders: Nikita Chroesjtsjov, Josip Broz Tito, Sukarno, Charles de Gaulle and many others. Some of them were quite nasty too.
The meeting ended more or less in a row. Mintoff left the room shouting that he expected more respect as leader of Malta, which had never been a Dutch colony. Luns came after him on his socks, almost throwing a shoe at Mintoff’s head. He told Carrington: ‘I thought I met them all, but he is the most loathsome character I ever met.’ Carrington would later, in his autobiography, call Mintoff a genuine patriot, despite his ‘impossible behaviour’. I am grateful to Mark Fenech for informing me about an interview in 2005 by Henry Frendo, when Carrington also expressed words of admiration for Mintoff. Mark was present at this interview.
After the breakdown of the negotiations Archbishop Gonzi travelled unexpectedly to London and was invited to tea by Her Majesty the Queen. Nobody knows what exactly happened but I was told Luns (1m95) met the Arbi shop as well. It must have been fun to see the very tall Luns (1m95), who was an old fashioned Catholic, bend over and kiss the tiny Archbishops ring.
Soon negotiations were resumed and a deal was made. Mintoff got his money and the British troops were due to leave Malta on 1st April 1979. Ever since Mintoff sent the Archbishop a bouquet of roses on his birthday.
(originally posted on Facebook 23rd August 2023)