Brussels, 25/02/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 25 February, the Spanish Presidency of the European Union called on Switzerland and Libya to bring a swift end to their dispute. “We asked Switzerland and Libya to increase their efforts to end this crisis,” said Spanish Home Affairs Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba, after a dinner with his fellow European ministers. The Council and European Commission were also asked to increase their efforts in finding a solution to the dispute between the two countries. The crisis between Switzerland and Libya began with the arrest of two Swiss businessmen, Max Göldi and Rachid Hemdani in Libya in July 2008, shortly after the arrest in Geneva of one of the sons of Libyan President Muanmar Qaddafi. Switzerland, a member of the Schengen area, decided to put 150 prominent Libyans on a list of persons who could no longer obtain a visa for Schengen area counties. In retaliation, Tripoli decided no longer to deliver visas to nationals from countries in the Schengen area. Slow progress is being made with Hemdani only being released on Monday, before returning to Switzerland. Göldi handed himself into the Libyan authorities to serve his four-month prison sentence. The EU hopes that he will be released in the next few weeks. Switzerland's decision to put the prominent Libyans on the Schengen list has been severely criticised by Italy. “The Schengen rules cannot be used to resolve bilateral disputes. … The black list is a national security instrument and not to be used to bring pressure to bear,” stated Italian Home Affairs Minister Robert Maroni on the sidelines of the meeting. “The black list has to be used carefully, otherwise it will be the end of Schengen,” he went on. He said that there was the danger that Libya might slow down border surveillance that might result in the arrival of illegal immigrants on Europe's shores. Swiss minister Eveline Widmer-Schlumpf said that, as a member of the Schengen area, her country had the right to apply its rules. The Presidency tried to give reassurance. “We have shown Switzerland that we support it as a member of the Schengen area,” said Perez Rubalcaba. He said that the priority was to tackle the current crisis. Issues relating to use of the Schengen rules had “repercussions for our policy”, but that would form part of a longer-term debate, he said. (B.C./transl.rt)