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Migration crisis: Obama and EU leaders to discuss naval patrols in Libya Migration crisis: Obama hails Merkel over handling of refugees
(about 2 hours later)
Barack Obama is to meet the four most senior EU national leaders to discuss efforts to stem the flow of migrants from Libya by deploying naval patrols in the country’s waters. US president Barack Obama said Angela Merkel was on the right side of history with her management of the refugee crisis and praised the German chancellor as a steady and trustworthy ally with a really good sense of humour, as he embarked on the final phase of the last official European tour of his presidency.
The patrols, the most significant intervention in Libya since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, would be authorised to send refugees back to the country. But beneath the smiles and mutual compliments, lurked a range of pressing global issues that the two leaders will try and address at a G5 meeting with British prime minister, David Cameron, French president, François Hollande, and the Italian prime minister, Matteo Renzi, in Hanover on Monday afternoon.
Monday’s meeting will also give François Hollande, the French president, and Matteo Renzi, the Italian prime minster, a chance to meet Obama. David Cameron, who met Obama in London, will also fly to Hanover for the talks, which are likely to last about two hours. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, met Obama for talks on his arrival in Germany. Both Merkel and Obama expressed grave concerns about the collapse of the Syrian ceasefire during a joint press conference in Hanover on Sunday.
The G5 meeting will focus on the power vacuum in the Middle East and its impact on mass migration into Europe. Syrian opposition forces left the third round of peace talks in Geneva on Friday following reports of escalating regime attacks. On Saturday, Syrian warplanes bombed the rebel-held town of Douma near Damascus and parts of Aleppo in the north, killing 23 people, according to the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Michael Fallon, the UK defence secretary, said on Saturday that the people smugglers’ business model needed to broken up at source in Libya. Referring to the EU naval mission Operation Sophia, he said: “The operation should move into Libyan territorial waters as soon as possible.” Merkel said that a visit to a refugee camp near the Turkish-Syrian border on Saturday had shown her at first hand the devastating effects a surge in attacks could have.
Vessels that take part in Operation Sophia can currently only operate in international waters, and any refugees picked up cannot be returned to the African coast. “We all care deeply about the tragic humanitarian crisis inside Syria,” Obama said in Hanover on Sunday afternoon. “I live with this every day: I read about it, I talk to people who have experienced or witnessed suffering.”
Fallon said HMS Enterprise would extend its operations in the Mediterranean beyond its scheduled departure next month. But the US president ruled out establishing “safe zones” inside Syria, while the German chancellor stood by the idea as part of the ceasefire plan.
The G5 leaders are likely to discuss the extent to which the EU naval mission needs the permission of Fayez al-Sarraj, the Libyan prime minister, to operate in the country’s waters. “As a practical matter, sadly, it is very difficult to see how it would operate short of us being willing to militarily take over a chunk of that country,” Obama said. “And that requires a big military commitment to protect refugees from attacks.”
Sarraj is struggling to win political support for his fledgling government, and any sign of diminished Libyan sovereignty weakens his ability to extend his internal support. During Monday afternoon’s two-hour meeting, the US president and the four EU national leaders are also likely to discuss stemming the flow of migrants from Libya by placing EU naval patrols in Libyan waters.
The UK foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has also raised the possibility of military support for a Libyan government attempt to drive Islamic State from its stronghold in Sirte. The patrols, the most serious intervention in Libya since the toppling of Muammar Gaddafi in 2011, would be capable of sending refugees back to the country.
He said in an interview published on Sunday that he would consider a request to deploy British ground troops in Libya but “if there were ever any question of a British combat role in any form – ground, sea or air – that would go to the House of Commons”. On Libya, Obama said he did not regret America’s military intervention in the country in 2011, even though other countries including Germany had declined their involvement in the operation. “I still believe it was the right thing for us to intervene. I do believe that it was important to plan and resource what would happen next. We didn’t do it as effectively as we should have. The fact that we have a government of national accord obliges us to encourage it.”
On the Syrian civil war, Obama said in London that he had been surprised that the seven-week ceasefire had lasted as long as it had, and again stressed that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, should put pressure on his Syrian counterpart, Bashar al-Assad, to negotiate on the details of a transitional government. Merkel agreed there was a duty to support Libya’s unity government but also said the country had never been a functioning state as we know it.
The Syrian opposition has left peace talks in Geneva citing violations of the ceasefire and Assad’s refusal to negotiate a transition. The meeting of the G5 will focus on the power vacuum in the Middle East and its impact on mass migration into Europe. It is likely to discuss the extent to which the EU naval mission needs the permission of Fayez al-Sarraj, the Libyan prime minister, to operate in Libyan waters.
Obama suggested in London that he had no plan B ready to roll out. “I assure you that we have looked at all options. None of them are great.” He was going to let the Geneva talks option play out,” he said. Sarraj is struggling to win political support for his fledgling government and any sign of diminished Libyan sovereignty weakens his ability to extend his internal support.
“If, in fact, the cessation [of hostilities falls apart, we’ll try to put it back together again even as we continue to go after Isil,” he said, referring to Isis the US administration’s term for the group. The British foreign secretary, Philip Hammond, has also raised the possibility of military support for any Libyan government attempt to drive Islamic State from its stronghold in Sirte on the Libyan coast. He said in an interview published on Sunday he would consider a request to deploy British ground troops in Libya. “If there were ever any question of a British combat role in any form – ground, sea or air – that would go to the House of Commons,” he said.
“And it’s my belief that ultimately Russia will recognise that, just as this can’t be solved by a military victory on the part of those we support, Russia may be able to keep the lid on, alongside Iran, for a while, but if you don’t have a legitimate government there, they will be bled as well.” Obama also used his Germany visit to lobby for the EU-US trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership.
The only other options in Syria would be for the G5 leaders to back more airdrops to lift some of the sieges, or a wider arming of the rebels. The trade deal is increasingly unpopular in Germany, as well as in the US, amid fears that it will benefit corporate America and not European consumers. More than 30,000 demonstrated against TTIP in Hanover on Saturday, and his visit coinciding with the city’s prestigious trade fair, will see further street protests against the president.
Obama is also visiting Germany to praise Merkel’s handling of the refugee crisis, and to sell the principle of an EU-US trade deal, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TIPP). “What you are seeing around the world is people are unsettled by globalisation,” Obama said. “People see a plant moving and jobs lost and narratives develop that this is weakening the position of normal people.”
The trade deal is increasingly unpopular in Germany, as well as in the US over fears that it will benefit US corporate interests rather than European consumers. He added: “It is indisputable that globalisation has made our economies stronger and our businesses the most competitive in the world.” While he said he did not expect the treaty to be ratified by the end of 2016, Obama said he remained confident that a complete deal could be agreed on before the end of his presidency.
More than 30,000 people demonstrated against TTIP in Hanover on Saturday, and the fact that Obama’s visit coincides with the city’s prestigious trade fair will mean further street protests. Merkel said that TTIP would help Europe’s economy to grow. “When I see how far the talks have already progressed then I believed we should hurry up,” she added.
Given the slow pace of the talks, and hostility towards free trade in the US Congress, that it is extremely unlikely a US-EU trade deal will be settled for years. On Sunday morning, US secretary of commerce Penny Pritzker had been lobbying for a speedy completion of the trade deal in front of members of the Federation of German Industry.
Obama said in an interview on Sunday that a US-UK deal in the event of a Brexit vote would take as long as 10 years to negotiate. “We have a rapidly closing window of opportunity to make progress. If we do not complete TTIP negotiations before the end of the year, it could be months, maybe even years, before serious talks resume. Whether it is TTIP, the Privacy Shield, and the Digital Single Market, we must ask ourselves: what is the cost of delay? What happens to our economies, to our companies, and to our people if we fail?”
In an interview published on Saturday by the German daily Bild, Obama showered praise on Merkel.
“I think that Chancellor Merkel’s stance in the refugee crisis was courageous, like that of many Germans,” he said, adding that the chancellor had drawn attention to the world’s moral obligation to people who had fled “terrible circumstances”.
“We can’t just close the gates on our fellow humans when they are in such great distress. That would betray our values,” he said.