EUROPE-MIGRANTS/EU-MOGHERINI UPDATE EU has a duty to act on migrants, bloc considering summit, says Mogherini

Record ID: 158832

  • Title: EUROPE-MIGRANTS/EU-MOGHERINI UPDATE EU has a duty to act on migrants, bloc considering summit, says Mogherini
  • Date: 20th April 2015
  • Summary: LUXEMBOURG, LUXEMBOURG (APRIL 20, 2015) (REUTERS) ENTRANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION REPORTERS OUTSIDE COUNCIL EU FOREIGN POLICY CHIEF, FEDERICA MOGHERINI, ARRIVING
  • Embargoed: 5th May 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Luxembourg
  • Country: Luxembourg
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA4WJ9RXZKRXFBR0UFGEWQQ4Q0J
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PLEASE NOTE THIS EDIT UPDATES EARLIER EDIT 1136-EUROPE-MIGRANTS/EU-MOGHERINI
    EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said on Monday (April 20) it was the European Union's moral duty to tackle the migrant crisis in the Mediterranean and the bloc could call an emergency summit of leaders later this week.
    Mogherini, an Italian, is adamant that northern states also shoulder the burden of rescuing migrants from North Africa and after the weekend's tragedy put the issue on the agenda of foreign ministers meeting in Luxembourg on Monday.
    "Now after what happened in the Mediterranean the day before yesterday, the night before the previous one, I felt it was our moral duty to concentrate also on our responsibility as Europeans to prevent this kind of tragedies to happen again and again," she told reporters as she arrived at the meeting, which interior ministers were expected to join later in the day.
    "You might remember that just a month ago, I was putting migration for the first time after 10 years on the agenda of foreign ministers, and we agreed on that occasion that we needed to have a joint ministerial foreign ministers, interior ministers. I'm happy to say, if there is anything to be happy about it, that we're having this finally today. Interior ministers are joining us this afternoon, and we will tackle the issues strictly relating to migration with the interior ministers today. Also in view of preparing, if there will be, a decision in this direction by President Tusk, a European Council, an extraordinary European Council later this week," Mogherini added.
    As many as 700 people were feared dead after a fishing boat packed with migrants capsized off the Libyan coast overnight.
    Many EU governments are reluctant to fund rescue operations in the Mediterranean for fear of encouraging more people to make the crossing in search of a better life in Europe.
    The European Commission, the EU executive, has warned that setting up an EU search and rescue operation in the Mediterranean will take time.
    But the Commission said in a statement on Sunday that the situation could no longer be ignored. The Commission said it was consulting with EU governments, European agencies and international organisations to draw up a new migration strategy in May.
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