By Megan Specia

EU officials approved plans for a naval operation targeting human smuggling networks that bring thousands of migrants from northern Africa into Europe across the Mediterranean during a meeting of foreign and defense ministers on Monday.

The operation will be headquartered in Rome and could be launched as early as June with NATO ready to help out if needed, the EU’s Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said.

The announcement came after a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels, which Mogherini says is “just the beginning” and will pave the way for planning for the operation. The EU’s foreign policy chief Mogherini emphasized that the new naval operation is just one of a series of actions to combat the growing migrant crisis.

“Not one single action will be effective alone, all elements are important in connection with each other,” said Mogherini, who noted search and rescue efforts, addressing the root cause of migration and dismantling criminal networks “all must be addressed in a comprehensive way.”

EU foreign and defense ministers met Monday to finalize the plan and Mogherini, speaking before the decision said EU nations “can move forward with the planning and possibly launch the operation in the coming weeks” once Monday’s decision is taken. Those weeks coincide with the high season for migrant crossings.

The European Union has been under international pressure to deal with the influx of migrants who make the dangerous journey across the Mediterranean after a series of deadly wrecks grabbed international attention. On April 19, around 800 people died in the Mediterranean’s worst known migrant shipwreck, highlighting the plight faced by thousands who make the journey on overcrowded and unseaworthy ships.

Mogherini, speaking ahead of the meeting, alluded to the incident, and said the new steps were a way for European leaders to give “a concrete answer to translate those minutes of silence we had in this very same building one month ago into action.”

Mogherini said that Libya must be involved in the steps towards ending the crisis.

“We are looking for partnership in this. There is a responsibility that the European Union can take but there is first of all a responsibility that the Libyans themselves have to take on their territory on their borders,” said Mogherini.

According to the most recent numbers from International Organization for Migration, more than 1,800 migrants have died crossing the Mediterranean so far in 2015. From Jan. 1 until May 11, 62,500 migrants made the crossing into Europe, according to figures from UNHCR.

Officials added that some parts of the plan could be enforced independently but that the destruction of boats would need U.N. approval.

Though NATO has not yet been approached for help, Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said the Western military alliance stands “ready to help if there is a request.”

Stoltenberg said the alliance, 22 of whose member states also belong to the EU, is also ready to help Libya’s government with defense-capacity building “when the situation on the ground allows for that kind of cooperation.” He added that he strongly welcomes U.N. efforts to forge a government of national unity and achieve a cease-fire.

Underscoring the need for action on the traffickers, Stoltenberg said “one of the problems is that there might be foreign fighters, there might be terrorists, also trying to hide, to blend in” on the vessels trying to cross over into Europe.

Officials say the operation centers on intelligence gathering and surveillance of smuggling routes leading to the south of Italy and Malta. Officials will also set out to contact government and UN officials in Libya as soon as possible. However, plans for boarding and seizing of smugglers’ vessels in international waters has caused some controversy and has led to some officials to call for backing from a UN resolution.

“If you are going to board vessels, you can do that now but you have to ask what flag the vessel has,” said Dutch foreign minister Bert Koenders. “It cannot be done automatically,”

Koenders also said a UN resolution would be “desirable” if the operation takes place in Libya’s territorial waters. A UN resolution would likely be needed if, and when, EU nations move to the next stage, which would involve the destruction of smuggling vessels, sometimes in the territorial waters of the nation of departure.

The recent move by European leaders to address the migrant crisis comes after months of limited search and rescue operations in the Mediterranean.

From October 2013 to December 2014, the Italian-run Mare Nostrum Operation patrolled the international waters south of Sicily, before being replaced by a smaller European border agency program called Triton. Search and rescue operations have relied on aid organizations that work in the region, local coast guards and other ad hoc measures to save those who find themselves in distress at sea.

Some reporting from the Associated Press.

IMAGE: Migrants wait to disembark from the Migrant Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) vessel “Phoenix” in the harbor of Messina, Sicily, Southern Italy, Saturday, May 15, 2015. IMAGE: CARMELO IMBESI/ASSOCIATED PRESS

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