EU urged to resolve spat between Libya and Switzerland

The EU should urgently take all possible measures to resolve the outstanding diplomatic spat between Libya and Switzerland, MEP Simon Busuttil said when addressing the plenary of the European Parliament.

The spat was causing significant problems to EU citizens who were being prevented from travelling to Libya.

Dr Busuttil said: "The EU has nothing to do with this and there is no reason why EU citizens should suffer as a result."

He referred to the threat to the livelihood of EU workers in Libya who were unable to travel to that country to get to their job.

Equally, EU investors in Libya were unable to send workers on the ground. In the meantime, workers who were already in Libya were trying to stay there as long as they could to substitute those who could not travel there, but there was a limit to how long they could stay.

All this created significant problems and inconvenience to EU citizens who were the victims of a row between two non-EU countries, Dr Busuttil said.

He strongly urged the European Commission to intervene in the matter and seek a solution as soon as possible.