Brussels, 21/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Alongside the military operation launched on Saturday 19 March by a coalition headed by France, the UK and the US to introduce a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Gaddafi's forces from attacking Benghazi, the EU decided on Monday 21 March to step up its economic an financial sanctions against the Gaddafi regime. Meeting for a Foreign Affairs Council, the EU27 decided on Monday on restrictive, autonomous measures in addition to the existing sanctions. The ministers' conclusions document says that the visa ban and freezing of assets will be extended to a further 11 individuals and nine further organisations will have their assets frozen. The new list of people and organisations hit by the sanctions will be published in the EU Official Journal on Tuesday 22 March. The measures came into effect immediately. Over the next few days, the EU will issue other sanctions in line with the 17 March Resolution 1973 of the United Nations Security Council, but the decision about these other sanctions will be taken by the 24-25 March European Council.
Military support for humanitarian work. The Council said it was prepared to provide military support for humanitarian work in Libya under the auspices of the United Nations as part of the EU's common defence and security policy (ESDP). To this end, the foreign ministers asked Catherine Ashton to plan military action in support of humanitarian and civil aid work, including naval support. This must agree with Resolution 1973 of the Security Council and be done in close cooperation with the UN, NATO and other partners in the region. Ashton told reporters that there had been consensus among the EU27 about ESDP support. The EU high representative said that the EU's main role in the Libyan war was to provide humanitarian aid.
EU divided about military action. Two days after the first bombings, the EU27 examined the military situation as the Arab League and the African Union, which had previously backed military action, were becoming ever more critical. On Sunday 20 March, the head of the Arab League, Amr Moussa, criticised the air strikes because they were not part of the shared aim of imposing a no-fly zone, but he is reported to have watered this down a little the next day. The five African presidents appointed by the African Union to find a solution to the Libyan crisis have called for an end to hostilities and an “African solution” to the crisis. Against this backdrop, the EU27 agreed to call for Gaddafi to immediately step down (this was repeated by the foreign ministers on Monday) but are divided about where there should be a military operation. The Council conclusions document published on Monday says that the member states are determined to take collective, resolute action to implement Resolution 1973 of the UN Security Council, passed last week, but will do so each in their own way. The split between France and the UK on the one hand and Germany, Poland and other countries on the other, emerged on Monday during the Council meeting. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé justified the military action, saying that if it had not intervened, then Benghazi would have become a bloodbath, but Germany refused to join in the military action. German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle explained that Germany had made it very clear right from the start that it would not be joining in because there are dangers with the current military operation, and when it heard the Arab League's views on Sunday, it was unfortunately shown that it was right to be concerned. In Germany's view, the best way to tackle Gaddafi is to introduce sanctions in the oil and gas industry. Other member states have also expressed scepticism. Cypriot Foreign Minister Markos Kyprianou said that the aim should be to solve the Libyan crisis peacefully and this was the proper EU objective, rather than air strikes. Italy too rejects the idea of “war on Libya”, explained Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. (H.B./transl.fl)