Brussels, 22/03/2010 (Agence Europe) - On Monday 22 March 2010, EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Catherine Ashton urged Switzerland and Libya to rapidly make up after their spat about visas for the Schengen Area. Speaking at the meeting of EU foreign affairs in Brussels, Ashton said she wanted both countries to immediately give a signal of willingness to find a diplomatic solution as soon as possible, explained a diplomat. The subject was put on Monday's agenda upon request from Malta and Italy, which want Switzerland to remove Libya from its blacklist of countries whose nationals are not allowed to enter the Schengen Area from Switzerland. To try and get the ball rolling, Ashton will be meeting the Swiss foreign minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, later in the week. Her planned meeting with Libyan foreign minister Moussa Koussa on Monday was cancelled. Austria's foreign minister, Michael Spindelegger, suggested that the Libyan representative could attend Wednesday's meeting, but nothing has been officially confirmed yet. At a press conference, Ashton said that Germany and Spain were acting as mediators and she herself was directly involved in the talks. Talks are underway and we will see what happens over the next forty-eight hours, she added. Her views were echoed by Germany, with German secretary of state Werner Hoyer commenting that the talks were in full flow and it was time that a solution was found to this disagreeable issue. Switzerland and Libya have been at diplomatic loggerheads for some weeks now. Switzerland has added 188 Libyans, including the country's president Colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, to its blacklist of individuals who are not eligible for visas for the Schengen Area, whereupon Libya suspended the granting of visas to countries from the Schengen Area. With the talks in deadlock, Italy and Malta want Switzerland to remove the Libyans from its blacklist and are threatening to find a way round the Swiss ban if a solution has not been found by 5 April 2010 (see EUROPE 10099). At Monday's meeting, Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini did not repeat the threat openly but several countries are reported to be prepared to find ways round the Swiss boycott, including Spain, Portugal and Slovakia, along with Italy and Malta. Maltese foreign minister Tonio Borg is reported in The Times of Malta as saying that Malta will be happy to issue visas for unlimited geographical areas to Libyans if the Swiss-Libyan spat were to continue. (B.C. trans fl)