Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Dr Tonio Borg will hold tripartite meetings in Rome on Wednesday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy Franco Frattini and Libyan Foreign Minister Mousa Kousa. The meeting was urgently called to address the latest concerns regarding Libya’s decision taken a few days ago to refuse visas to citizens from the Schengen area.

This measure was announced by Libya in view of the fact that Switzerland, which though not an EU member state, is part of the Schengen area, has objected to the issuance of Schengen visas to 180 Libyan nationals, including certain VIPs.  This means that full Schengen visas cannot be issued to these persons by any country which is part of the Schengen Visa System.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Hon. Tonio Borg, on Tuesday, requested the General Affairs and Foreign Affairs Council to discuss the issue of Schengen country citizens not allowed to enter Libya during next Monday’s meeting in Brussels.

This Council is made up of all EU Foreign Ministers and meets once a month. In a letter sent to Ms Catherine Ashton, Vice President of the European Commission, the Foreign Minister,  Dr Tonio Borg has asked for the inclusion in the agenda of this issue.  The European Commission has confirmed that this issue will be tackled during the meetings.

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