European Union Considering expanding Anti-piracy Operations

The European Union is considering expanding its anti-piracy operations to the Indian Ocean, bloc officials said Monday as they released figures showing that its Atalanta mission off the coast of Somalia has already led to the arrest of 52 suspects.

"The mission should be extended into the Indian Ocean ... since the pirates are extending themselves there more and more," said German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung on the sidelines of a meeting of EU foreign, defence and development ministers in Brussels.

Pirates operating along the Somali coastline have recently launched several attacks off the Seychelles, which are located in the Indian Ocean, some 1,500 kilometres away. Officials from the Czech presidency of the EU said talks of expanding the mission had indeed been discussed, but stressed that no decision had been reached yet.

There are currently 11 ships and two patrol planes available to the EU's Atalanta mission, which has been operating off the coast of Somalia since December.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said the mission had so far succeeded in escorting more than 20 World Food Programme ships, allowing 130,000 tonnes of food to be delivered. Solana also put the total number of captured pirates at 52. Of these, 51 were handed over for prosecution to the Kenyan authorities. "However, the pirates are operating in a wider area. We have to adapt our operation accordingly," Solana said. "We have reached a general agreement on the principle to extended the European Union anti-piracy operation off Somalia beyond the end of the year and to cover the Seychelles," said Bruno Le Maire, French junior minister for European Affairs. He spoke to reporters after a meeting of EU defence and foreign ministers in Brussels.

Officials say armed gangs have been operating from the Seychelles against shipping. An official of the Czech presidency said there also appeared to be political agreement to extend the mission beyond the end of the year, when its mandate is due to expire, reported Reuters. French junior Defence Minister Jean-Marie Bockel said extending the area of operations would ideally require the deployment of two more ships. Currently 13 vessels and three maritime patrol aircraft are operating with the EU force.

Source: Ecoterra, May 19 2009

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