De Marco cared for people; his humility made him appreciate everyone

With the death of President Emeritus Guido de Marco we lost a patriot, a convinced European and a crusader for peace and stability in the Mediterranean.

The sheer list of decorations and honours Prof. de Marco received from around the world is testimony of the admiration he enjoyed internationally.

Barely two months ago he was in Brussels to give a keynote address at a conference in the European Parliament. I have etched in my mind the image of the sudden crowding of Prof. de Marco when he entered the building – people simply wanted to shake his hand, to meet him, to listen to his thoughts.

As diplomatic officer attached to his office, I had the privilege of accompanying him on several state visits. Each time, I saw this man representing our country with pride and love for our country and for us fellow Maltese.

Indeed, true to his convictions, the size of Malta is only relative: this is one of his legacies, of the lessons he imparted with his life. This is also our common responsibility – to see in Malta what he saw, to push beyond mediocrity and make of ourselves a confident nation, to be proud of our heritage.

As Minister of Foreign Affairs Prof. de Marco founded the professional diplomatic corps of Malta. Till the very end, he remained keen to learn of developments in our foreign service and in his former ministry.

Just days before he died, when he was recovering at Mater Dei Hospital, he was visited by Foreign Affairs Minister Tonio Borg. Prof. de Marco did not miss the opportunity to congratulate him for his address to the Maltese ambassadors during their annual meeting just the week before.

Prof. de Marco also knitted together the elements that now constitute the backbone of Malta’s foreign policy. He was instrumental in ensuring our place in what he defined as our maison commune, our common European home.

Alongside this determination to root our nation in stability and prosperity, Prof. de Marco looked also to strengthen Malta’s relations with our southern neighbours. He strived to foster understanding among the nations of the Mediterranean.

He had the audacity to envision for Malta an important and specific role, that of a bridge-builder between north and south, between Europe and the Arab world, a role which Pope John Paul II in a letter to Prof. de Marco defined as the vocation of Malta in the European Union.

To use a favourite expression of his, Prof. de Marco “consistently, persistently and insistently” promoted this ambition which is today a recognised reality. He promoted this vision rigorously, based on a principled approach to politics. He refused injustice and never looked the other way.

On a personal level, Prof.de Marco was a remarkable gentleman, the rare kind. He was curious and loved life immensely. He had time for everyone – he felt the pain of others but had also this admirable and contagious joy. He was truly a fountain of energy. He never refused an invitation and loved meeting people.

Prof. de Marco truly cared for people; his humility made him appreciate everyone. He remembered birthdays, and called his friends and aides whenever they fell sick. He also loved the occasional office prank which was often was played on his life-long friend and colleague, the late Joe Tonna.

One of the cherished memories I have of Prof. de Marco is when I went to greet him at Paris Orly airport in 1995 where he was transiting to Malta. At that time, I was a junior First Secretary on my first posting at our embassy in France and he was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs.

When he saw me, before his typical rigorous (and feared) cross-examination of the work being done, he wanted to know if I was keeping good contact with my family. For him, family was always a priority.

Later, when I worked closer to him when he became President, I witnessed this loving care at first hand. I admired him for the way he expressed his love to his family, to his wife whom he called Gioia. Of all his numerous talents and qualities, humanity was the greatest sense of Prof. de Marco, a sense he certainly developed though his spirituality and love of God.

During the EU referendum campaign, Prof. de Marco, then President, was often challenged by visiting dignitaries and foreign journalists on what appeared to them a divided Maltese nation. He explained that Malta was taking its time to decide, that different opinions were engaged in convincing others on their points of view.

This, he was very proud to stress, was “politics of persuasion”and not division, it was the pulse of a strong and dynamic democracy: once the Maltese made up their mind, he repeatedly explained, they came together and steered steadily in one direction – a remarkable observation, an insight about ourselves, which could only spring from someone who lived with and for the people, who believed that to be Maltese is to live a dream, as he himself said in his inaugural address as President on April 4, 1999:

“It is our responsibility that the dream of today should become reality of our children. So that they too may continue to live the beautiful dream that is to be Maltese. So that Malta may strengthen peace among its children, and understanding which unites us, towards a future that we deserve.

“I pray to God to help me as your President to continue to build on the values of this people so that we may consolidate unity in peace amongst all Maltese.

“All my life I have lived close to the people: so I intend to remain.”

This pledge Prof. de Marco honoured till the very end.

This, perhaps, also explains the sense of a nation that emerged so naturally during his dignified and emotional state funeral.