EU says Chavez misunderstood migration law

By Ingrid Melander

BRUSSELS, June 20 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez seems to have misunderstood a new European Union migration law, EU leaders said on Friday after the head of the energy-rich nation threatened to stop selling them oil.

The 27-nation bloc agreed this week that illegal immigrants can be detained for up to 18 months and face a re-entry ban of up to five years.

On Thursday, Chavez said the rules were "shameful" and said he might cancel investments in the South American country made by European countries that enact them as well as stop their oil shipments.

Spain's prime minister said Madrid was prepared to explain the new law "so that the EU's relationship with all Latin American countries remains positive."

"Maybe we need to explain exactly to the president of Venezuela what this directive (EU law) consists of," Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said at a two-day EU summit.

"There have been many interpretations of this directive... that have nothing to do with what it really is," he said.

Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Jansa, whose country holds the EU presidency, said Chavez's threat of withholding oil exports was "perhaps exaggerated and perhaps not really understanding" of what the new laws meant.

EU officials argue the bloc needs to get tougher on illegal immigration to convince voters to be more accepting of legal immigrants. Millions of Latin Americans live in Europe, many from poor Andean countries and war-weary Colombia.