MEPs on the European Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee held an exchange of views today on the latest developments in the crises in the EU's immediate and wider neighbourhood (Ukraine, Libya, Gaza, Iraq).

 

On the issue of the readiness of certain EU countries to deliver arms to these countries, particularly to Iraq, GUE/NGL MEP Sabine Lösing, the group's coordinator on this committee, said: “The delivery of weapons is never a solution. Sending weapons to Iraq will never eliminate the threat that the Middle East is facing from the Islamic State (IS). On the contrary, handing out more weapons can only bolster the looming division of Iraq which, as a result, could possibly lead to the collapse of the whole region.”

 

Lösing stressed that humanitarian aid as well as a non-bureaucratic solution for the admission of refugees are the most urgent tasks for the international community.

She said: “IS has launched a systematic campaign of ethnic cleansing in northern Iraq, committing war crimes, including mass summary killings and abductions, against ethnic and religious minorities. We have to act immediately and  weapons are never a solution. Turkey has to open its borders for refugees and eventually close its borders to the IS.”