News | Sunday, 14 March 2010

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Muscat calls for unilateral action on visa impasse

Charlot Zahra
Labour leader Joseph Muscat called on the government to show more courage in the visa dispute between Libya and Switzerland, which has affected the entire Schengen area, including Malta.
Muscat was addressing a Labour conference with the theme of industry yesterday morning. “We believe that the time for action has come, unilateral if need be, by the Maltese Government to protect our national interests and those of many families,” he insisted. “We believe that the Government should evaluate these proposals too.”
He assured the government Labour’s “full support” if the it made these choices in the national interest.
Muscat said solutions to this dispute were “limited but exist to ensure that Maltese businessmen and workers are once again given unhindered access to Libya and do not lose the competitive edge that we have with other countries.”
Labour had noted “positively” the diplomatic efforts made by the government till now, Muscat explained. “However we now think that enough time has passed and we should not leave so many Maltese businesses, so many Maltese families in the limbo of uncertainty.”
During his speech, Muscat explained how Malta had ended up in the diplomatic dispute between Libya and Switzerland with not blame whatsoever. “During the last three weeks, we kept the proper silence and offered our assistance as and where asked though our contacts,” Muscat revealed. “We should never feel ashamed or uneasy to defend our country’s interests to remain competitive.”

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