European Commission president José Manuel Barroso yesterday sought to reassure southern member states that the EU would support Malta and Italy if they were flooded with Libyans seeking asylum.
Mr Barroso told Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi during an official visit to Italy that “the EU will be able to show solidarity through burden sharing and money” if the influx these member states feared materialised.
He said a plan of solidarity in the management of migratory flows in southern Europe would be presented to EU leaders in June.
Last week, EU Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid Kristalina Georgieva said all member states, except the UK and Denmark, were ready to take part in a reallocation mechanism of asylum seekers if thousands of Libyan refugees sought asylum on EU shores.
Meanwhile, in Brussels, the EU yesterday said it was still waiting for decision from the UN before it could act on the Arab League’s calls on the Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya.
The UN yesterday met to discuss the request made by the Arab League but no decisions were taken. At the moment, there is no actual resolution tabled before the Security Council calling for a no-fly zone.
While pro-Gaddafi forces continued to advance on the opposition, bombarding various rebel forces from the air in Libya, EU Foreign Affairs Chief Catherine Asthon met Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa in Cairo to discuss the latest development.
At the end of the meeting she would only say the EU supported the call for a no-fly zone but this had to have the UN’s backing.
Russia and China – two permanent members of the Security Council – are still opposing military intervention in Libya and their consent is required for such a resolution to pass.
Lady Ashton also discussed the possibility of holding an EU-Arab League summit over the issue as decided by the 27 EU leaders last Friday during an extraordinary summit in Brussels.
Speaking to the press in Brussels, her spokesman said the Commission was working on the possibility of organising this summit but it was still “too early” to speak about when and where it could be organised.