It took a month, but the high-profile hijacking of the Sirius Star oil tanker by Somali pirates on November 15 finally provoked a reaction from the European Union last week as the first EU naval operation was launched to try and protect shipping around the Gulf of Aden. But Members of the European Parliament familiar with Africa and security issues said the pirates won’t be stopped by force alone and were divided over the causes of piracy and Europe's role in Somalia in the recent past.

The MEPs say that the solution won't be found at sea. The real problem lies at the heart of Somali politics and its lack of government.  "It is possible to protect ships, it is good to have the first naval mission in this region but it is not enough to solve the problem. The only way would be stabilisation in Somalia," said MEP Filip Kaczmarek of Poland, who drafted last year’s parliamentary report on the Horn of Africa.

The MEPs listed the facts they said are being overlooked:

-Years of anarchy followed the death of dictator Mohamed Siad Barre in 1991

-United Nations peace keeping missions ended unsuccessfully in 1993 and 1995

-Civil strife, drought and rampant inflation have turned Somalia into the world's worst humanitarian crisis, says the UN.

-3.2 million Somalis need humanitarian aid, 1.1 million are displaced internally

-A 3,400 strong African Union peacekeeping mission is in place

Ana Gomes, a Portuguese Socialist and Vice-President of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence agreed. "I am not against this mission. But it will not manage to stop piracy as long as a functioning state is lacking in Somalia. If it is just this mission and nothing else I am against."

There were more than 100 acts of piracy in the region last year, with Somali pirates believed to have extorted around 90 million Euro. The newly formed Atalanta mission will try to quell attacks using up to six frigates and three military patrol aircraft from the UK, France and Greece. Germany, Italy, Spain, the Netherlands and Belgium are expected to contribute at a later stage.

Kaczmarek said the pirates "should be treated as terrorists and the normal strategy is not to negotiate with terrorists." However, Gomes disagreed and said, "The pirates are not necessarily terrorists. One must understand that they were initially just fishermen that tried to defend their fishing grounds which were plundered by foreign fishing boats, particularly from the EU."

Both MEPs said that to bring about change in the region the EU must focus all of its attentions on bringing stability to Somalia. "What is needed is an effort to bring Somalia to a situation of actual governance, otherwise it will further descend into violence and become a save haven for extremists and terrorists," Gomes said. Kaczmarek said though that, "In Somalia there is no power that control things, so the pirates are not afraid of anybody. It could be stopped on the land by local, regional or national authorities, but they simply don't exist."