Why Gaddafi once wanted Switzerland split between three countries

Key Points

• Gaddafi proposed dividing Switzerland among Germany, France and Italy
• The UN rejected Libya's proposal
• The plan came during a major Libya-Switzerland dispute

Former Libyan leader, the late Muammar Gaddafi, proposed breaking up Switzerland and dividing its territory between Germany, France and Italy in 2009, during a bitter diplomatic dispute between Libya and Switzerland.

Gaddafi first raised the idea during the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, in July 2009, rather than during his separate state visit to Italy in June. He argued that Switzerland's German-speaking areas should become part of Germany, French-speaking areas should go to France and Italian-speaking areas should join Italy.

Libya later tried to put the proposal before the United Nations General Assembly. A UN spokesman said the request was rejected because it went against the principles of the UN Charter, which protects the sovereignty and existence of member states. The proposal was never placed on the General Assembly's agenda.

The extraordinary proposal came as relations between Libya and Switzerland were deteriorating. The dispute began after Gaddafi's son Hannibal Gaddafi and his wife were briefly detained in Geneva in July 2008 following allegations that they had mistreated two domestic employees.

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Libya responded with measures against Swiss interests, while two Swiss businessmen were prevented from leaving Libya for more than a year, deepening the diplomatic crisis.

The map broadly represents Gaddafi's idea, but it should not be read as an official or detailed territorial plan.

His proposal was based broadly on Switzerland's German, French and Italian-speaking regions, and there was no internationally accepted partition map. Switzerland remained fully sovereign, and the proposal went nowhere at the UN.