BRUSSELS - The European Union urged Libya Tuesday to boost cooperation in the fight against illegal immigration but the price Tripoli is asking is too high, EU Justice Commissioner Jacques Barrot said.
"Libya is asking for funding and logistical means for the surveillance of its southern border," he said, after talks in Brussels with Libyan EU Ambassador Al Hadi Hadeiba.
"But meeting these demands is very difficult. It's not certain that African countries would accept that a fund for problems linked to immigration be filled from the European development fund," he said.
Libya is a major transit point for would-be African illegal immigrants heading to Europe in search of better lives. Tripoli says about 80 percent of those passing through to get to the Mediterranean Sea enter from Niger.
Barrot wants to keep open communication lines with Libya and has not ruled out going on a fact-finding mission.
"The human traffickers must be stopped," he said.
The EU's top justice official said it was important to step up maritime surveillance, through the bloc's border agency Frontex, given the number of people trying to make the perilous crossing to Europe.
But it remained unclear what should be done with those picked up.
"The Libyans tell us that these people come from other African countries with which they don't have any accords and so they cannot send them on," he said.
He added that Tripoli estimated there are around two million people on Libyan territory who want to emigrate to Europe.
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