EU pushes for a naval force

BRUSSELS: The EU’s foreign policy chief pushed yesterday for a naval mission in the Mediterranean to target Libyans smuggling people to Europe, saying that an EU agreement would hasten the UN mandate that the plan needs to succeed.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the bloc’s foreign and defence ministers “will be taking the decision to establish the operation at sea to dismantle the criminal networks that are smuggling people in the Mediterranean”.

“Once we adopt a decision today, it will be more urgent and clear for the (UN) Security Council,” she said.

Nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg urged Europe to take that step, partly because the self-styled Islamic State militants might “also be trying to hide, to blend in among the migrants” in order to get to Europe.

About 51 000 migrants have entered Europe by crossing the Mediterranean Sea this year, with 30 500 going in via Italy. About 1 800 have drowned, the UN refugee agency says.

At an emergency summit in Brussels last month, EU leaders agreed to “identify, capture and destroy vessels before they are used by traffickers”.

Mogherini flew to New York this month to seek support for a draft resolution by Britain, France, Lithuania and Spain under chapter 7 of the UN charter, which allows the use of force to restore international peace and security.

Without UN authorisation, the EU’s naval mission, which will likely be headquartered in Italy, will not have the mandate to intervene in Libyan territorial waters and onshore in Libya to seize vessels.

“Nothing will happen without a UN mandate,” said Austrian Defence Minister Gerald Klug. But EU diplomats said the bloc could still agree on its mission yesterday, and start using ships and helicopters in the high seas to gather intelligence about people smugglers, although its impact will for now be limited.

A 19-page document prepared for EU ministers envisages four phases, starting with deployment and assessment, and culminating in a “disruptional phase”. A UN Security resolution “is not required for the first phase”, it said.

As part of its migrant strategy, the European Commission last week unveiled a plan to take in 20 000 more refugees over the next two years, a response to an emergency that saw more than 600 000 people seek refuge in the EU last year.