Do we still need a NATO anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean?

(BRUXELLES2, exclusive) We can ask ourselves this question. Because in the Indian Ocean, alongside the various national operations, there are no less than three operations carried out by NATO or EU countries: EUnavfor Atalanta for the EU, CTF 151 under the aegis of the Americans and Ocean Shield for NATO. Three missions which do more or less the same thing, sometimes with the same States which sometimes lend their means to one, sometimes to another. In these times of economic difficulty and multiplication of crises, one can therefore legitimately ask whether such duplication is really necessary.

Question posed openly between Directors of Defense

This question was moreover officially posed in Sopot during a meeting of the directors of defense of the 27 held in July. According to the information that has come back to us, at least three countries - Portugal and Italy, joined by France - have openly questioned the need for NATO to maintain a separate operation; France going even further considering that the Alliance did not have to worry about this anti-piracy activity. One State openly opposed this point of view; it will not surprise anyone it is about... United Kingdom.

A more political than operational reason for maintaining 2 missions

It is certain today that both EU and NATO missions are suffering from a reduction in the means committed. At the General Staff of the EU, we were alarmed, in August, by the fact that the naval resources assigned to the anti-piracy operation were below the minimum standard. The NATO mission has, in fact, only a political justification: to allow Denmark (which has chosen not to participate in the military operations of the European defense policy and benefits from a opt-out on this subject) and to a lesser extent to Turkey to find a political "umbrella" to welcome its boats without having to be incorporated into an American CTF-type mission. That's all...

NB: One may wonder why the two organizations - NATO and the EU - do not consult more to avoid duplicating missions and resources. Faced with the resurgence of piracy in West Africa, one can also wonder if it would not be possible to operate a geographical division of the fields of action. AF Rassmussen and Cathy Ashton see each other regularly to discuss the cooperation between the two organizations they lead, this subject deserves to be not only put on the table but settled.