EU Nations Agree to extend Anti-piracy Naval Operations

EU nations on Tuesday agreed to greatly extend their anti-piracy naval operations against Somali pirates as far as the Seychelles, European diplomats said.

"Representatives of the 27 (EU nations) in the Political and Security Committee reached agreement on the extension of the Atalanta intervention zone as far as the Seychelles," one diplomat said.

Naval ships from the European Union's Atalanta operation along with NATO and other US-led coalitions have thwarted several pirate attacks in recent days, either preventing hijackings or capturing suspected pirates. Some 20 foreign warships patrol the waters off the coast of Somalia -- on one of the globe's busiest maritime trade routes -- on any given day.

With foreign navies focusing their efforts on the Gulf of Aden, a key convergence point for maritime traffic and a large proportion of the world's oil supplies, ransom-hungry pirates have hunted their prey some seven hundred nautical miles into the Indian Ocean from southern Somalia eastwards to the Seychelles archipelago. "The Atalanta patrol zone will be made a quarter bigger," the diplomat said. "The operational plan has been modified to encompass the Seychelles archipelago," which has been out of bounds up to now, another diplomat said.

The initiative received enthusiastic support at a meeting of EU defence ministers in Brussels on Monday, though details such as which countries will send extra ships and planes to reinforce the EU's current Atalanta operation were not hammered out. There was unanimity "to extend the coverage up to the Seychelles, to reinforce the capacity of the air and naval patrols, which have already had good results, and prolong the duration of its operations," beyond the current December mandate, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon said after that meeting.

There was still no announcement Tuesday as to where these extra naval resources would come from, although the EU decision takes immediate effect. At the moment the EU flotilla is made up of German, Swedish, Spanish, French, Greek and Italian navy ships. Other EU nations, such as Belgium, the Netherlands and Romania and non-members Norway and Switzerland are expected to contribute to the expanded Atalanta operation.

As to its prolongation beyond the current mid-December mandate, Swedish Defence Minister Sten Tolgfors, whose country will assume the rotating EU presidency in July, voiced support. "I remain very open to that should the mandate be prolonged," he said. "We have to wait for the mid-term report in June," he said, while adding "few believe that the problem will have disappear by then."

Source:Ecoterra, May 20, 2009

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