Swiss action 'in line with Schengen'
The Swiss government's decision to blacklist 186 Libyan persons, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, preventing them from obtaining a Schengen visa, was made according to existing rules, a European Commission spokesman said. Pressed to say whether...
The Swiss government's decision to blacklist 186 Libyan persons, including Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, preventing them from obtaining a Schengen visa, was made according to existing rules, a European Commission spokesman said.
Pressed to say whether the Swiss decision was "inappropriate", Commission justice spokesman Michele Cercone said yesterday the Swiss decision was taken in line with the Schengen protocol.
He added: "According to defined rules, a decision to include someone into the persona non grata list is up to individual member states. The rules state every member state has the right to make these decisions, which have to be respected by all the other states included in the protocol."
Using a diplomatic tone, the Commission's spokesman failed to condemn the Swiss decision when questioned by Italian journalists but qualified his comments by stating this was a bilateral issue which the Commission hoped to be resolved amicably between the two parties.
"The Commission is closely following all the developments and hopes the issue between Switzerland and Libya is settled as soon as possible," he said.
During an EU Foreign Ministers' meeting last Monday, Malta and Italy criticised the Swiss decision saying the Schengen rules should not be used as a political tool in a bilateral row such as the one with Libya. They called on the EU to ensure this was not repeated.
However, according to the Commission, there were no plans to change any existing rules. "I don't know of any such revision," Mr Cercone said when asked.
Meanwhile, according to Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, a solution to the visa issue was "close."
Commenting on a telephone conversation between Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and Col Gaddafi, Mr Frattini said an agreement was in sight and should be concluded very soon.
"The Swiss should be retracting their blacklist in the coming days while they promised to launch an investigation into how photos of Gaddafi's son taken during his interrogation by the Swiss authorities ended up in the press," Mr Frattini was quoted as saying.
Last week, Libya decided not to recognise any Schengen area passengers following Switzerland's decision to blacklist the Libyan officials.
Relations between Switzerland and Libya have soured since July 2008, when Geneva police questioned Mr Gaddafi's son, Hannibal, and his wife following a complaint that they had abused domestic staff at their . Soon after, Libya prevented two Swiss businessmen from leaving the country and subsequently tried them on visa violations.
The Libyan-Maltese Chamber of Commerce has strongly condemned Switzerland's blacklisting of Libyan nationals. The situation, it said, was causing problems to its members who could not travel to Tripoli to carry on their business, chamber president Anthony Micallef said.