Prof. de Marco annual scholarship fund for diplomats launched

A scholarship fund for diplomats in honour of the late President Emeritus Guido de Marco has been launched by the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies to celebrate its former chairman.

The annual scholarship, identified as the Professor de Marco Annual Scholarship for Diplomats, will allow one student to pursue a nine-month course at the academy to be awarded a Masters degree in Diplomacy.

The scholarship was launched recently by academy chairman Joe Borg during a tribute to Prof. de Marco which took place during the bi-annual Euro-Med conference organised by the academy and the European Commission.

Prof. de Marco was a regular contributor at the Euro-Med conferences and had developed close relationships with the panellists over a number of years. The tribute was attended by his widow Violet and their children, Mario de Marco, Giannella Caruana Curran and Fiorella de Marco.

In his address, Dr Borg said he was honoured to have been called to succeed Prof. de Marco as chairman, as he knew how close the academy was to his heart.

“He saw it a perfect vehicle for expressing the intrinsic importance of Mediterranean dialogue, exchange and friendship,” he said.

Tom McGrath, on behalf of the Commission, described Prof. de Marco as “a monumental man” who “brought fairness and understanding to complicated and fraught subjects”.

Prof. Bichara Khader, director for Arab Studies at Belgium’s University of Louvain, dwelled on the Arab Spring which Prof. de Marco never witnessed but which he had worked so tirelessly for, demanding from the EU a clear and committed policy towards the Mediterranean.

He quoted Prof. de Marco at a lecture at the Centre of European Studies at Bonn University where he admonished that “to neglect the cradle that nursed Europe is to abandon the roots of Europe”.

“Young Arabs have done their part. The EU should do its part: accompany the movement by a meaningful partnership for democracy and prosperity. Prof. de Marco could not have asked less.”