Guy Verhofstadt: Europe must avoid another Srebrenica in Libya
Last Friday EU leaders appeared united in their calls on Gaddafi to step down and end the civil war engulfing Libya yet indecisive over the means to bring force him to stop. Members of the Libyan National Transitional Council were unequivocal in Strasbourg last week in their call for the international community to paralyse Gaddafi’s killing power, to enforce a no-fly zone (without sending in ground troops) and to step up urgent humanitarian aid.
“We cannot sit back and watch a massacre take place in Libya,” said Guy Verhofstadt, ALDE group leader in the European Parliament which hosted representatives of the Libyan Transitional Council last week. “EU leaders are dithering instead of showing decisiveness. Last week they took sides against Gaddafi. Now they must take action against him.”
“Everyone agrees that Gaddafi has lost his legitimacy and is now intent on crushing the opposition movement with superior military force, yet Member States remain reluctant to stop him. Have they learned nothing from the tragedy of the Bosnian war ? This is a defining moment in Europe’s foreign policy. Will we be up to the mark or spend the next ten years lamenting our inaction when it could have made a difference ?”
“The G8 meets today in Paris and NATO meets tomorrow to discuss plans for a no-fly zone. Both events represent a last opportunity for the international community to act on the calls of the Arab League over the weekend and take immediate action to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya that effectively destroys Gaddafi’s ability to slaughter his opponents with impunity.”
