From Valentina Pop, EUobserver:  Foreign ministers have sketched out the basic outlines of an EU ‘military-humanitarian’ mission to Libya, amid concern about putting ground soldiers into a volatile situation.

The meeting in Luxembourg on Tuesday (12 March) saw ministers discuss the so-called concept of operations (Conops) for the Eufor Libya mission, the first step in the planning of any mission which involves military assets.

The Conops was not formally agreed due to last-minute resistance from Sweden, which said the move is premature pending a UN request for EU military assistance to deliver humanitarian aid or to help get refugees out. …

Earlier in the day, an EU diplomat said France is "basically trying to get ‘boots on the ground’ via an EU humanitarian-military mission. But a lot member states are very reluctant in signing up to that."

But speaking after the meeting French foreign minister Alain Juppe ruled out "any military role" for the EU operation. …

Another EU contact noted that confusion remains on what Eufor Libya will do despite the ministers’ three-hours-long lunchtime debate.

"Some member states stress more the humanitarian aspects and do not want any reference to the security situation, others say the two are intertwined and press for the two to be mentioned," the source said. "It is a very unusual military operation – we don’t know what we would be asked to do – so planning is very loose at the moment."  (photo: Getty)

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