Malta celebrates its first Independence, Sept 21, 1964
Malta was ruled over the past
2 millennia by the Romans, the Arabs, the Normans, the Spanish, the Knights of
St John, the French and the British. Following a Maltese constitutional
referendum in 1964, approved by 54.5% of voters, on September 21st 1964, Malta
became an independent state as a Constitutional Monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth
II as its Head of State. So September 21st every year is celebrated as Independence
Day or Jum l-Indipendenza in Maltese, this year being the 62nd anniversary. One
can say that both Labor Leader Dom Mintoff, as well as Nationalist Leader and
Prime Minister George Borg Olivier contributed towards the attainment of
Independence. On December 1st 1964, Malta was admitted to the United
Nations. In 1965 Malta joined the Council of Europe, and in 1970, Malta signed
an Association Treaty with the European Community. Malta was declared a
republic on December 13th, 1974 and in 2004, Malta finally became the 25th
nation to join the European Union.
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