Operation Atalanta extended until 2014. Possible extension to beaches (Maj3)
(BRUSSELS2) On Monday (27 February), Foreign Ministers are expected to ratify the extension of the anti-piracy operation Eunavfor Atalanta for two additional years, until December 2014. This decision was discussed at the last Political and security, Tuesday (February 21). And no one objected. It was the President of the European Commission, José-Manuel Barroso, who was the first to officially confirm this news during his meeting yesterday with Somali Prime Minister Abdiweli Mohamed Ali. " An operation that has proven its success in combating piracyhe added to the press. NB: A little tripping over the transition to institutional rules which clearly illustrates the weakness of the current High Representative.
Download the text of conclusions
Extension on the beaches
On the other hand, the extension of the geographical area of the operation, towards Somali land, in particular the beaches to target the pirate bases, has not yet been formally approved. On the one hand, it always came up against the reluctance of one country, Germany. Berlin fears being drawn into operations which are not provided for in the mandate authorized by the Bundestag - consultation of Parliament is a constitutional obligation in Germany for any foreign mission - while it has undertaken to make available to the European operation one or two ships permanently. This difficulty could, if necessary, be resolved by a 'caveat' Berlin formal posed to the operation commander.
According to a diplomat who participated in the discussions and contacted by B2, he “ There would currently be no objection from a Member State (Nb: Germany, Spain). An agreement was reached on this point on December 20 ". On the other hand, this additional commitment requires authorization from the Somali government. Discussions have already begun on this point. The 27 agreed from December 20 ". But it took some time for the High Representative to translate this agreement into action ". The High Representative, Catherine Ashton, sent a letter to the Somali authorities on Monday (February 20) to request this authorization which must - in accordance with resolution 1851 - then be sent to the UN Secretary General. A letter that B2 may have seen.
Letter to Somali authorities
« Despite our best efforts, hackers continue to enjoy a certain sense of impunity, with a risk/benefit balance that (may) tip in their favor writes the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs. " It is obvious that piracy continues to benefit from facilities with a chain of logistics depots established along the Somali coast. If this phenomenon continues, it will have severe consequences for the population and the economies of the region as well as for international maritime traffic in the Horn of Africa and the Indian Ocean. ».
« We consider that a more robust action could include the destruction of the piracy paraphernalia found in the logistics depots disposed on the Somali coastal territory”. These actions will be “concentrated on isolated and fixed places, recognized as directly responsible for piracy”. The European Union - she specifies - "will only undertake such actions in “using necessary and proportionate force, and in a manner that respects the rules of human rights and international humanitarian law » and provided that « local government authority (do not be) undermined by this action.
In doing so, the missive asks the Transitional Federal Government to kindly allow the EU to " act (...) in the coastal zone and its airspace (...) with the aim of preventing and repressing acts of piracy ". NB: according to an expert consulted by B2, “ it would in no case be a question of sending troops ashore but from ships, to be able to reach the logistics depots who are on the ground So by shooting, rocket or missile. On the use of aerial resources (helicopter type), our interlocutor remains more evasive.
(Updated: text of the letter - translated - + details on the discussion of the 27 - text of the conclusions on the extension of Atalanta)