Austrian Chancellor tackles Operation Sophia

(B2) Sebastian Kurz is opposed to a resumption of the naval component of Operation "Sophia" (EUNAVFOR Med) even to enforce the arms embargo against Libya. And he says it clearly

Arms control: a pretext

« The intention to relaunch the Sophia rescue mission under the guise of monitoring compliance with the UN arms embargo is an obvious ploy. I say clearly that this will not happen. Austria, as well as a number of other countries, categorically rejects it “says Sebastian Kurz in an interview with the German newspaper this weekend”World on Sunday'.

The more practicable air route

The operation was " practically ineffective between 2016 and 2019 “, to counter arms trafficking, when she had that in her mandate, he denounces. The European Union, together with the partner countries, better focus on controlling arms smuggling to Libya, on the ground and in the air ».

A Sophia operation, an entry ticket for illegal immigrants

And to take up an old leitmotif: “ Basically, 'Sophia' has always been above all a rescue mission, which has become the ticket to Europe for thousands of illegal immigrants. This led to additional deaths in the Mediterranean because this region attracted more migrants ».

Commentary: a statement to put into perspective?

The Austrian Chancellor is not wrong when he says that Operation Sophia has not been very effective in the past on the 'arms embargo' aspect. But when he ventures into the 'operational' field, he joins the camp of spirited 'Y qu'à, il faut qu'on'. As a reminder, Vienna does not currently provide any air assets to Operation Sophia, whereas other countries, such as Portugal (until recently), Poland or Luxembourg do. As for the land component, we are waiting to see Austrian soldiers on the southern Libyan border, for example, to control arms trafficking. This kind of argument is rather a hypocritical way to discard.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)