Tensions ease as Libya lifts visa ban on citizens from 25 European states

LIBYA lifted a visa ban on citizens of 25 European countries on Saturday after holder of the EU presidency, Spain, said a Swiss-instigated visa blacklist against 188 Libyans in those countries had been scrapped.

The end to the visa ban and the Schengen zone blacklist will likely defuse a crisis that has threatened to damage growing business ties between Europe and oil exporter Libya.

“In the interests of strengthening its cooperation with the European Union, Libya lifts the restrictions it earlier imposed on the citizens of the Schengen zone,” Libya’s foreign ministry said in a communique, carried by JANA, the state news agency.