Malta and the Non-Aligned Movement

Maltese participation in the movement was motivated by advocacy of peace and development in the Mediterranean and was intensified in the aftermath of the departure of the remaining British troops from the island in 1979. Maltese association with the Non-Aligned countries during the Cold War was promoted by South European (Greek, Portuguese and Maltese) left wing parties closer association with the ideas of the NAM group than with the ideas of the Western European social democracy. In 1984 the country hosted the first in a series of the Mediterranean Non-Aligned Countries Ministerial Meetings.

Principles of neutrality and non-alignment were included into the Constitution of Malta in 1986 as a part of a compromise deal between the ruling Malta Labour Party the major oppositional Nationalist Party.