EU ambassadors in Brussels will meet on Tuesday over the deepening crisis in Iraq.
Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini, whose country currently holds the six-month rotating EU presidency, called for the emergency meeting to evaluate "with our principle European partners more efficient means" of stopping the jihadist advance in Iraq, in a reference to the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) group.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has sent a letter to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton to urge the 28-member EU to mobilize to help Iraq's Kurds fight ISIS.
Fabius, who has just returned from a trip to Iraq where he met Kurdish President Massoud Barzani, said Barzani had stressed "the urgent need for weapons and ammunition that would allow them to confront and beat the terrorist group ISIS."
‘’We're not talking about military intervention but providing support, even of a military sort, to the Kurdish government," Mogherini told Italian radio.
France and Britain have pledged support for a U.S.-led operation to help Iraqi civilians - many of them from the Yazidi minority - who are fleeing the ISIS terrorists.
The United States has been conducting airstrikes on ISIS positions in northern Iraq where 200,000 people have been displaced since August 3rd, including all the residents of Iraq's largest Christian town, Qaraqosh.
On Sunday, the European Union strongly condemned the latest attacks by ISIS and other armed groups in Iraq.
"We are appalled by the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation with hundreds of thousands civilians, mainly from minorities, fleeing the areas of conflict as a result of persecution and violation of basic human rights," the European External Action Service (EEAS), the EU’s foreign policy arm said in a statement.
The EEAS noted that some of these acts may constitute crimes against humanity and must be investigated swiftly, so that the perpetrators are held accountable.
The EEAS said the EU and its Member States are providing urgent humanitarian aid to the civilian population, together with other international partners, directly and through UN agencies and non-governmental organisations.
"We call on all parties to abide by international humanitarian law, ensure humanitarian access and facilitate the delivery of assistance, " added the statement.