What the European Union is planning is not an invasion of Libya, but action against the smugglers who are making between one and five million dollars for every migrant voyage, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said on Tuesday evening.

Speaking on Rai Uno’s most popular TV discussion show Porta a Porta, Dr Muscat said that there are short-term and long-term solutions to the migrant phenomenon. The long-term solutions are those that will see the economic development in African countries.

The short-term solutions are to be discussed on Thursday at a special summit of the European Union, and among the topics will be military intervention to stop human trafficking. “It is not an invasion of Libya,” the PM said. Efforts leading to more stability in the country are under way and it is hoped that some form of solution is found shortly.

But what the EU will be discussing is intervention against criminals who are making millions from every voyage, Dr Muscat said.

He said that the European Union does not wait for pirates to hijack ships on the Somali coast, but it intervenes before and the number of such incidents has diminished when compared to precious years simply because the EU’s anti-piracy operation is efficient.

Asked whether he is optimistic that a solution will be reached on Thursday, he said that “he will believe it when he sees it”.

But the European Union now has the opportunity to give its political assent to an intervention against criminals. This week’s tragedy has led to a realisation that the migration problem needs attention, and needs attention now, he said.