GODOLLO – NATO and the EU piled pressure on Moamer Gaddafi’s regime on Friday, joining forces to rescue foreigners stranded in Libya while EU governments prepared to take part in a possible no-fly zone. As the European Union prepared sanctions against Tripoli, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with EU defence ministers in Godollo, Hungary, to discuss the vast evacuation effort under way in the strife-torn country.
Rasmussen also convened a separate emergency meeting of the North Atlantic Council, the 28-nation alliance’s decision-making body, for later in the day in Brussels. NATO ambassadors will discuss “possible options” and exchange information on the “fast-moving situation,” he told reporters, refusing to elaborate.
Asked if a military intervention was an option, Rasmussen said: “I don’t want to go into specifics at this time. I think clear priority must be given to evacuation of people in need and maybe also humanitarian assistance.” Governments worldwide have been scrambling to evacuate tens of thousands of citizens stranded in Libya amid fears that a revolt against Gaddafi’s regime will descend into all-out civil war.
“The situation in Libya is of great concern. NATO can act as an enabler and coordinator if and when member states will take action,” Rasmussen wrote earlier on his Twitter account. Between 2,000 and 3,000 Europeans were still stranded in Libya after several EU countries including Britain, Germany and Greece deployed planes and ships to evacuate their citizens, according to the EU.
Rasmussen said he was meeting EU defence ministers “to see how in a pragmatic way we can help those in need and limit consequences of these events”. “This crisis in our immediate neighbourhood affects Libyan civilians and many people from NATO allies,” he said. “Many countries are evacuating their citizens.
Clearly this is a massive challenge.” As European defence ministers met in an 18th-century palace in the town of Godollo outside Budapest, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said the 27-nation bloc was ready to impose sanctions on the Gaddafi regime. “It’s time to consider what we call restrictive measures to think about what we can do to ensure we are putting as much pressure as possible to try and stop the violence in Libya and see the country move forward,” Ashton said.
The sanctions being considered include an arms embargo, an assets freeze and travel ban against the regime. The possibility of imposing a no-fly zone over Libya to prevent Gaddafi forces from bombing protesters was raised by the US and French governments this week. EU governments are making “contingency plans” to help police Libyan airspace but “the EU needs a UN Security Council resolution first,” an EU diplomat said on condition of anonymity.
Rasmussen did not rule out NATO’s participation in a no-fly zone but also stressed that a UN mandate would be needed. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Wednesday that France and Italy would be best placed to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. But French Defence Minister Alain Juppe said such action should be taken collectively. Ashton said she had discussed the situation in Libya with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the White House.
