Tiziano Mousu – Malta’s honorary consul in Montenegro: what does he do for a living?

For several years, Tiziano Mousu was a restaurant manager at the Fortina Hotel in Sliema.

On 27 November 2012, when he was still a restaurant manager at that hotel, Mousu was appointed Malta’s honorary consul in Montenegro. On that date, there was a brief “interregnum” – de facto but not de jure – at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the appointing body, between Tonio Borg and Francis Zammit Dimech.

John Dalli had been forced to resign his position as European Commissioner and Borg was in the process of replacing him. Borg’s appointment was formalised on 28 November, the date he technically ceased to be Malta’s Foreign Minister and also the date when Zammit Dimech replaced him.

When I rang Tonio Borg and Francis Zammit Dimech, both said they have no knowledge whatsoever of Tiziano Mousu, and that they had never met him.

That is not the only reason why his appointment is very odd. Honorary consuls are very different to consuls. Aside from the fact that they are unpaid, have no diplomatic status whatsoever (despite the impression Mousu wishes to create) and do not need to be citizens of the country they represent (hence “honorary”), they are always pillars of the local community, who do it only for the status and kudos.

Honorary consuls are never emissaries. In other words, they are not citizens of Country X sent from Country X to Country Y by the government of Country X to represent its interests there. They are always citizens of Country Y, pillars of the community or business in Country Y, appointed by Country X on an unpaid basis and without diplomatic status to help out on an ad hoc basis, for example when citizens of Country X have a problem in Country Y.

And you will never get an honorary consul of Country X in Country Y when Country X has an ambassador (which means formal diplomatic representation) there – though in very large countries, even when there is an ambassador you might have an honorary consul in a remote city for that city alone, or for a particular region of that country. There are Maltese honorary consuls in many North American cities, for example.

However, Malta now has the peculiar situation of an honorary consul for the whole of Montenegro, Tiziano Mousu, and also an ambassador to Montenegro, Jaime Cremona – but it is Mousu’s name we see popping up everywhere, especially in connection with Ram Tumuluri and Vitals.

There is something else. Given that Tiziano Mousu was working as the Fortina Hotel’s restaurant manager right up until his appointment as Malta’s honorary consul in Montenegro, following which he supposedly went to live in that country, how is he living? Honorary consuls are not paid. So he must have some other employment or occupation which gives him the money to live off. What is this job or occupation?

A source I spoke to earlier today, who has known Mousu for many years, expressed surprise when I said he lives in Montenegro. “But he’s always here in Malta,” he said. “I saw him only the other day.”

Whether he lives in Montenegro or not (and he shouldn’t be honorary consul if he doesn’t live there), Mousu lied to David Thake when he told him “I have lived in Montenegro for many years”. Less than four years ago, he was working full-time as a restaurant manager in Malta.

When I rang the number which is listed on Malta’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs website for its honorary consul in Montenegro, I got a young woman who couldn’t speak English. “Tiziano no here,” she told me, “never here. This company (incomprehensible name). Speak secretary of company half hour. She take message Tiziano.”