NAIROBI, March 20 (Xinhuanet) -- The European Union on Monday proposed a strategy for peace, security and development in the Horn of Africa region, calling for the formation of a standby force, effective cross-border controls to solve the problem of an influx of immigrants into the Western countries.

    Louis Michel, visiting EU Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Development, said the strategy builds on the actions taken by the Inter-Governmental Authority on Development (IGAD), aseven-nation regional group, and the Nile Basin Initiative.

    Addressing an IGAD Summit underway in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, Michel said the regional pact will serve as a catalyst for bringing peace, security and development to the Horn, buildingon mutual dependency.

    "I am proposing to you a regional pact for stability, security and development in the Horn. This pact would revitalize and complement agreed common programs to address the regional cross-border dynamics and ensure that such programs are fully effective," Michel said.

    "This strategy should focus, in particular, on regional governance, natural resources management, food security, border control and nonproliferation of small arms," he told eastern Africa leaders in Nairobi.

    He called on the IGAD heads of state to build concrete achievements which would create de facto greater solidarity in theregion as the EU experienced itself.

    "The history of the EU can be a source of inspiration for the region. The EU has thrived and flourished because it has overcome long-standing rivalries and hatred," said Michel.

    "Nowadays, your regional political forum, IGAD, has become a central part of the political and security architecture of the Horn of Africa. It needs to be utilized to its full potential. Butthis requires genuine political will and commitment," he added.

    The eastern Africa leaders are meeting in Nairobi under the auspices of IGAD to discuss rising insecurity in the region and take stock of peace in Sudan and Somalia.

    The EU official said the combination of borders and nomadic pastoralists' communities in the region has been a constant sourceof conflicts for decades.

    The region is also food insecure and lacks a rapid response mechanism to famine, which the EU wants solved through a fund, said Michel.

    He said the landmark peace agreement on Sudan and the consolidation of the Transitional Federal Institutions in Somalia are already major breakthroughs in achieving peace in the Horn, although these processes remain fragile.

    Michel welcomed the establishment of the Eastern African Standby Military Brigade (EASBRIG) as part of the African Standby Force, saying it would help in developing African capacities in deployment of military peacekeeping and monitoring operations.

    Michel said the 25-member bloc envisages supporting the initiative should it become fully operational.

    "We need to recognize that most borders in the region are permeable and we need to devote efforts to reform border controls and remove the incentives of illicit trafficking," Michael said.

    He said the border initiative would target bilateral initiatives to enhance the monitoring of borders such as Ethiopia and Eritrea through joint military coordination commissions or joint training programs.

    The EU proposal was welcomed by delegates attending the day-long summit

    "I am in favor of this proposal that is the only way to stabilize the region. It is now the responsibility of the states and they should issue a statement to that effect," UN Special Envoy to Somalia Francois Fall said on the sidelines of the Summit.

    The EU said there is growing concerns back in Europe on the fallout of the chronic cycle of poverty in Africa, the instabilityin the region, which is partly to blame for the high turnover of immigrants into Europe.

    "We feel the consequences of a large number of migrants and refugees and the risks of the spread of trafficking and terrorism in the region," Michael told the leaders from Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Uganda, Sudan and Djibouti.

    He said European states believe there is an opportunity and a duty of the African states to change the course of things.

    The concrete initiatives worth expanding, according to Michel, include food security and desertification as a major challenge, asthe region faces a new cycle of drought and famine. Enditem