MALTA PETITION FOR THE ITALIAN LANGUAGE
Malta petition to reinstate Italian as an official language.
A wind of change may be blowing over Malta: a petition launched by Gabriele Bini is shining a light on the possibility of reinstating Italian as the island’s third official language.
This proposal is not just nostalgic, but deeply rooted in the history, culture, and everyday life of the Maltese people.
Article 5 of the Maltese Constitution, in fact, leaves the door open to the recognition of new official languages.
And Italian, with its historical importance and surprisingly wide diffusion even today, seems to be the perfect candidate.
Just look at the numbers: according to statistics, 41.34% of Maltese people speak Dante’s language fluently, while other estimates suggest that 86% of the population knows it at least at a basic level.
Of these, 67% speak it fluently, 17% understand its fundamentals, and 2% are even native speakers.
But how did we get here?
For centuries, Italian was Malta’s official language, introduced by the Knights of the Order of St. John in 1530.
This connection lasted until 1934, when the island used Italian as its main language for administration and public life.
Two years later, however, the British abolished it to reduce Italian influence, making Maltese and English the only official languages.
Yet, Italian never completely disappeared.
Street signs, restaurant menus, and commercial communications are often trilingual—in Maltese, English, and Italian.
Even the national holiday of Sette Giugno celebrates Malta’s deep cultural connection with Italy, and up until 1964, the Government Gazette itself was published in three languages: Maltese, English, and, indeed, Italian.
This bond was reaffirmed by the words of the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, who, in a video message released by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stated: “Italian has been spoken in Malta – my country – for centuries.”
Metsola went on to add: “Italian is the third most spoken language in Malta, and it is spoken by more than half of the Maltese population,” concluding with a tribute to cultural identity: “The language we speak is the medium through which our culture, our history, our values, and our worldview are expressed. Long live the Italian language, long live Italy, and long live Europe.”
(Source: gazzettadimalta.com)
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