European coordination for the evacuation of Libya is taking place

The Civil Protection Information Mechanism (MIC) has been put on alert to support the evacuation effort of European citizens from Libya. This device should make it possible to identify and facilitate the means of evacuation, including by sea, around Benghazi and other parts of Libya, specifies the Commission in a press release. " Thousands of EU citizens find it difficult to leave Libya under these extremely difficult circumstances - said Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for Crisis Response -. It is our duty to rise to this challenge and do everything to facilitate evacuations.”.

On the military side, it is the EU Military Staff (EMUE) which takes stock of the available means and liaison, in particular in liaison with the European Air Force (EATC) based in Eindhoven, already coordinates air evacuations for the 4 member countries (France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium). Thus he ensured the OpCon (operational control) of 5 aircraft sent to Tripoli in recent days (the 2 German Transalls, the French A340 and A310, the Dutch KDC10), according to information received in Brussels2.

At the European diplomatic service (EEAS), the SitCen, the intelligence center of the European Union, which is responsible for consular protection, is also mobilized. And it is the director of the "crisis response" department, Agostino Miozzo, well known to the readers of this blog, who coordinates the resources deployed.

Finally, on the spot, in Tripoli, it is the Hungarian ambassador who organizes the coordination, day by day, in particularly difficult conditions, according to the latest information (*). A meeting of the main consular officials was thus held today in Tripoli on Wednesday (23 February).

Comment: it is remarkable to think that the system set up during the earthquake in Haiti with a special EUCO cell was not repeated this time to structure and strengthen coordination between all these European actors. There is a kind of void there that needs to be filled quickly. A decision could be made in this regard soon. Although coordination at European level is, for the time being, not very visible, it could become more important in responding to requests from "deprived" countries such as Bangladesh, Nepal or Sri Lanka which have requested international assistance. , in particular via the IOM (International Organization for Migration).

• At the heart of the SitCen (file): the earthquake in Haiti, seen from the inside
• The 27 approve the coordination cell (EUCO Haiti)