Malta's Ministry for Foreign Affairs has announced that the two remaining diplomats who were still manning the Malta Embassy in Tripoli were asked to return to Malta and arrived this afternoon (Monday).
Last week, the Ministry also asked its Ambassador to Libya to come to Malta for political consultations.
In their statement dated 17th November 2014, the Maltese authorities, through the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, had emphasised that they had never, and will never, interfere in the internal affairs of Libya.
The Ministry, however, regrets to note that the Embassy of Malta in Tripoli and the Maltese diplomats have been subjected to ever increasing political pressures over the last days in the exercise of their official duties.
"Our diplomats were, on the one hand, sternly and officially warned by the Tobruk government not to communicate in any way with the self-proclaimed Parliament in Tripoli, while at the same time officials representing the Parliament in Tripoli were piling pressure on the Maltese diplomats and the Maltese authorities to recognise the Tripoli government.
"In view of this deteriorating situation in Libya which could possibly expose our diplomats to unnecessary risks to their personal safety, the Maltese authorities had no alternative but to decide that the two remaining diplomats also be instructed to return to Malta."
The Ministry for Foreign Affairs recalls that it had already advised that the Embassy in Tripoli would no longer be able to provide consular assistance after 6 August 2014, and renews its travel advice against all travel to Libya. It also strongly advises all Maltese nationals in Libya to leave.
In the light of this recent development, the Ministry for Foreign Affairs further advises that those in need of consular assistance should contact the Crisis Centre, which has been reactivated by the Ministry for Foreign Affairs as of today, on the following coordinates:
MINISTRY FOR FOREIGN AFFAIRS
Crisis Centre
Palazzo Parisio
Merchants' Street
Valletta,
MALTA
Tel: +356 2204 2200
Freephone: 80072203
(Source: MoFA)
(Malta image via Shutterstock)
