EU wants tougher action on Darfur but sees limited options
March 26, 2007 (BRUSSELS) — The European Union acknowledged Monday that the lack of a military option and China’s U.N. support for Sudan will make it tough to take decisive action on the Darfur crisis, despite calls by EU leaders for tougher measures.
“You have to make sure that that you do not raise expectations that cannot be met,” said EU spokesman Amadeu Altafai Tardio.
Both British Prime Minister Tony Blair and German Chancellor Angela Merkel raised the possibility of tougher sanctions against the Sudanese government for what they called the “intolerable” situation in Darfur.
The 27-nation EU currently has an arms embargo on Sudan and visa bans on a number of Sudanese officials.
Blair called for a U.N. resolution expanding sanctions against Sudan and said a no-fly zone over Darfur should be considered. The United Nations currently has no sanctions against Sudan.
U.N. action on Sudan has made little progress in the face of Chinese objections, and the EU continues to see it as a major obstacle.
China, which buys two-thirds of Sudan’s oil and sells it weapons and military aircraft, has opposed sanctions against Sudan but urged the government earlier this month to follow through on a plan to deploy U.N. peacekeepers to beef up African Union forces in the troubled region.
“If we take this to the U.N. Security Council, it would be extremely risky to open this discussion and then not deliver,” said Altafai Tardio. “China remains the test,” he said.
Military experts have also expressed doubt about the feasibility of imposing a no-fly zone over such a vast and remote area in central Africa.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana is to attend the Arab League Summit on Wednesday and hopes to raise the issue of Darfur on the sidelines,
EU officials said the government of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir also seemed to act out of fear the international community was bent on ousting him or dividing up the country.
“It is not on our agenda to change the regime in Khartoum. Secession is not on our agenda,” he said.
The suffering of 4 million people in Sudan’s Darfur region _ caught in fighting between rebels, the government and the pro-government militias _ has been taken up by celebrities and Nobel laureates, including Bob Geldof, Guenter Grass, Harold Pinter and Vaclav Havel, who urged the EU to take more decisive action in the region.
More than 200,000 people have been killed and more than 2 million displaced in four years of fighting in Sudan, and the pro-government janjaweed militias are accused of widespread atrocities against ethnic civilians.
(AP)