NATO agrees bigger Mediterranean mission to stop smugglers
NATO agreed on May 19 to broaden its operations in the Mediterranean to help the European Union stop criminals trafficking refugees from North Africa but will not act until the fate of rescued migrants is cleared up.
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US Secretary of State John Kerry said a meeting of NATO foreign ministers supported the wider role as Europe struggles with failing states on its fringes and said NATO should link up with the EU's "Sophia" naval mission in the area.
This could be a step toward NATO helping stabilize Libya by patrolling coastal waters to uphold a UN arms embargo and counter the growing presence of Islamic State, a step that would likely need UN Security Council support, diplomats said.
"NATO can play a maritime role in terms of assisting operation Sophia in order to prevent illegal migration, illegal human trafficking from taking place," Kerry told reporters.
"There was a unanimous sense in the discussions we had today that NATO could help," he said, stressing NATO would have no combat role in the region.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg echoed that, saying, "We agreed that the alliance can do more in the Mediterranean," setting out a range of areas where NATO ships could act, including gathering intelligence and interdiction.
The European Union, fearing a repeat of last year's uncontrolled migrant flows across the central Mediterranean as the weather improves, has sought to enlist NATO's help to tackle the worst migration crisis since World War Two.
A first move was to set up a mission in the Aegean Sea, a major route for migrants crossing from Turkey to the Greek islands, with NATO ships patrolling there with the EU's border agency Frontex and local coastguards.
That has dramatically cut the number of migrants risking their lives to reach Europe in flimsy boats, part of a wider deal between the European Union and Turkey in which Ankara takes in migrants fleeing civil war in Syria in return for EU aid.
