There was a time when the US Sixth Fleet plied the Mediterranean endlessly from left/west (Straits of Gibraltar entry) to right/east (Lebanon and Syria coasts), right to left, left to right, right to left, and so on, with occasional ‘goodwill’ or ‘show the flag’ stops along the way. And nobody in those times spoke about crazy boat attempts from anywhere in North Africa to the shores of any southern Mediterranean shore or point. Were these vessels a deterrent?

Then came the times when everyone seems to have wanted these ‘warships’ out of ‘our’ Mediterranean, our so keenly-desired Sea of Peace.

I am not in a position to say whether these ships still ply the seas of the Baħar l-Abjad (white sea), as the Arabs call the Mediterranean. But calling them back (in whatever format they now might exist) could perhaps be a solution towards preventing more of the mad Mediterranean cemetery scenarios.

There’s no stopping any sovereign Mediterranean country, on bilateral or multilateral basis, reaching agreements with either the Sixth Fleet or the Mediterranean Fleet (if they still exist) to patrol its territorial waters and prudently pushing intruders into those waters back to wherever they may want to.

The European Union – if it has its head screwed on in the right place – must not, even if its northern states do not give much evidence of genuine interest or solidarity, ignore such a possibility of some member states going their own way.

Care for whoever needs it yes because that is our Christian duty. But the European Parliament and European Council blah-blah-blahing on the issue, with no real signs of a quick and permanent solution, is simply saying to fed-up-to-the-hilt nations like ourselves that we can, and should, go about finding a solution our own way.