The Swedes prepare for the Atalanta mission

(B2) A Swedish officer, Johan Spåhl, of the third naval squadron of Karlskrona, spent two months on board the Danish ship Absalon engaged in the fight against pirates, listed CTF-150 (the Danes led the coalition). Sweden must, in fact, participate in the operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta (EU) with 150 sailors, two corvettes and a support ship. The Swedish representative on the Political and Security Committee confirmed it again this week (the Minister of Defense had already announced it in November, read our first list). And, taking advantage of their good cooperation with the Danes, the Swedes decided to prepare for their participation in the EU operation Atalanta.

Turbulent times. Those two months, says Spåhl, were "eventful with many experiences" at several times. The Danish ship was, in fact, particularly active in the area, intervening on several occasions (see the first assessment trained). “At one point it was particularly dramatic. When we received a distress call from a Dutch merchant ship. The Absalon helicopter was dispatched and fired warning shots. fired from the attacked ship. A fire then broke out on board the pirate ship and forced the five suspects to jump into the water. They were recaptured and taken into custody aboard Absalon, pending examination legal consequences of their actions" (this testimony was collected before the follow-up to the case, the Netherlands having requested theextradition of pirates in Denmark).

Useful lessons. Admittedly, some data collected on the Absalon differ from the mission that the Swedes will have to carry out, in particular for the accompaniment of the World Food Program (WFP) boats, the maritime zones not being the same - between the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia. But for Swedish sailors, this observation mission is very "useful for further planning of the operation“. Particularly as regards the behavior of the fishermen.”They generally fish in groups, with a larger mother boat and two smaller ones that will retrieve the fish from the nets.. A method very similar to that used by hackers (unless it is the opposite). From where "many false alarms. The behavior of peaceful fishing boats having been perceived as a threat by merchant ships".

The Swedes are particularly active at the level of external defense interventions (EU, UN, EC, NATO). It will be a suédois who will lead the Minurcat II - the UN military operation which will take over from EUFOR in Chad and the Central African Republic. He is also a Swede who is an American assistant on the C-17 aircraft pool of NATO (although the country is not a member of the Euro-Atlantic organization). At European level, Sweden had also very quickly sent, within the framework of the European civil protection mechanism, an SAS plane during the Bombay bombings, to evacuate several wounded Europeans. An activism that corresponds to Sweden's military rank (the country is part of the Top 6 states in military matters) but also to more political imperatives. Sweden takes over the presidency in the second half of 2 of the EU (see the calendar). An internal campaign was conducted for NATO membership. And its Minister of Foreign Affairs, Carl Bildt, is a candidate for one of the leading European posts (the post of High Representative for Foreign Affairs in particular).

(NGV)

(photo: Swedish Navy)