Defense ministers from five EU countries were set to meet yesterday for talks on a military campaign to stop human trafficking and reinforce the region’s defenses against the flow of migrants from North Africa.
Officials from France, Germany, Poland, Italy and Spain planned to use events commemorating the 70th anniversary of the liberation of Lorient, western France, to discuss how to battle what many see as a new threat facing Europe that has already cost thousands of lives.
After some of the deadliest migrant shipwrecks ever seen in the Mediterranean this year, the ministers “will examine possible options for European [military] action,” according to the French Ministry of Defense.
Photo: AFP
More than 5,000 refugees have died over the past 18 months as boats operated by smugglers have capsized off Libya’s coast, triggering alarm among European leaders seeking to halt the flow.
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini is set to present a plan to the UN Security Council today that would see the UN lead military operations against the smugglers.
The most controversial option under discussion would set out to destroy the boats used by the traffickers before they are loaded with migrants and sent out on the perilous journey to European shores.
Most set sail from Libya, where the breakdown of government since the ouster of former Libyan leader Muammar Qaddafi has allowed ruthless people traffickers to operate with impunity.
However, critics say that military action in Libyan waters or to stop a vessel flying the country’s flag without an international mandate would break international law.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has also criticized the plan, saying that destroying boats could affect the livelihoods of Libyan fishermen, who might be forced into dealings with the smugglers to make ends meet.
For now, Brussels is concentrating on stopping unflagged boats and sharing intelligence about traffickers, EU sources said.
That could include information gathered from radar, aerial surveillance and wiretaps.
The aim is “to identify the points of departure, the security situation on the ground” and establish a multinational team of planning officers, a military source in Paris said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last week gave a withering assessment of the bloc’s defense policy, saying it was less effective than “a bunch of chickens” and calling for a more centralized military procurement strategy.
To this end, France and Germany are planning to jointly build a military observation satellite and this year hope to launch a project to develop a European drone with Italy.
Overall the EU is falling short of the NATO target to spend 2 percent of GDP on defense — with the notable exception of Poland, which is undertaking a vast modernization of its army.
Germany has pledged to raise its military budget to 34.9 billion euros (US$39.2 billion) by 2018, from 33 billion this year, while France has said it will increase its budget by close to 4 billion euros between next year and 2019.
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