The EU and Libya said on Saturday they will resume granting visas to each others’ citizens, ending tit-for-tat bans imposed in a bitter row between the north African nation and Switzerland.
The Spanish presidency of the EU said all the names of Libyans on a blacklist which banned them from entering the continent’s 25-state Schengen visa zone had been removed.
“The names of Libyan citizens listed on the Schengen zone [blacklist] have been permanently removed,” the EU said in a statement.
Tripoli responded promptly, dropping a retaliatory ban on the issuing of visas to Schengen-zone Europeans, and hailing the EU move as a “defeat” for Switzerland.
“Libya welcomes this statement and announced the immediate lifting” of the entry ban for nationals of Schengen member countries, a Libyan official said on condition of anonymity.
“Switzerland was defeated by the common European position,” Libya’s foreign ministry said later in a statement.
The ministry also confirmed Libya “would lift restrictions which were imposed on the citizens of member countries of the EU that are in the Schengen area.”
Switzerland and Libya have been embroiled in a diplomatic row since July 2008 after the brief arrest in Geneva of Libyan leader Muammer Qaddafi’s son Hannibal when two workers complained he had mistreated them.
In a statement issued in Madrid, Spain’s foreign ministry said it regretted problems the Schengen blacklist caused Libyans.
“This measure [the blacklist] was taken by a member of Schengen, not by the EU, which played no role in this. We are sorry and deplore what happened and the problems caused Libyan citizens,” it said.
“We hope that an event like this is not repeated in the future. We confirm our desire to foster good relations between the EU and Libya,” it said.
The Schengen borderless travel zone groups 22 EU nations plus Switzerland, Norway and Iceland.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos, a former EU Middle East envoy, flew to Libya on Saturday in a fresh bid to end the spat between Libya and Switzerland and urge that Tripoli free a Swiss national, Max Goeldi.
The dispute escalated when Libya detained Goeldi and another Swiss businessman, and Switzerland hit back by issuing the blacklist that prevented some prominent Libyans from entering the Schengen zone.
As the Swiss blacklist must be applied by all countries in the Schengen area, the move drew the EU into the dispute. Libya retaliated by denying entry visas to Schengen-zone citizens.
Goeldi has been blocked from leaving the country since July 2008 and is serving a jail term in Tripoli for visa offences.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel