At the beginning of August, the Frigate Hamburg for almost five months in the direction of the Mediterranean. The crew is facing a tricky mission, which is also highly unlikely to involve any shore leave due to the coronavirus. To date, the German Navy has participated in Operation Irini with a P-3C Orion maritime patrol aircraft and carried out sixteen missions in this context.
As a result of the Berlin Libya Conference in January 2020, the EU found a way to carry out a mission in the central Mediterranean at the end of March. The aim is to monitor and enforce the UN-backed arms embargo on Libya. Political agreement on the approach - the operation is seen by some as a lever against Turkish efforts to gain a foothold in Libya - proved difficult. In the end, a surveillance mission with ships, aeroplanes and satellites was agreed. In order to be able to react flexibly to the arrival of migrants, the commander of Eunavfor Med Irini decide to use the units away from the transport routes between Libya and Italy. Overall, the operational area was shifted further eastwards - to the eastern part of the central Mediterranean.
The operation also aims to disrupt the business model of human trafficking networks
Also with Irini prevent the illegal export of oil from Libya. From the legacy of the Eunavfor Med Operation Sophia, the training of the Libyan coastguard and navy became part of the catalogue of tasks for Irini. However, according to recent information, this has met with little favour on the Libyan side. In addition to the political agreement, the 23 EU member states involved had difficulties with the deployment of troops. For a long time, Irini relied on German, French, Luxembourgish and Polish air surveillance. France and Greece temporarily provided maritime units from mid-May. On 17 July, the Italian San Giorgio, a landing ship, took over as flagship. Italy intends to temporarily deploy Predator drones, a submarine, a maritime reconnaissance aircraft and airborne early warning systems. With the Hamburg For the first time, a German Navy ship is part of Irini. According to Brussels, the operation is now fully operational after almost five months. Originally, the Frigate of the Sachsen class for a trip to Southeast Asia and Australia and participation in the Indian Ocean Naval Symposium. Then Corona came along and cancelled these travel plans; the symposium of the countries bordering the Indian Ocean was postponed until November.
Mixed situation
On 10 June, there was an incident between le Courbet and Turkish units. The latter opposed the attempt by the French FrigateThe French authorities were able to control a Tanzanian-flagged Ro-ro vessel with a Turkish name, which had previously attracted attention due to its route from a Turkish harbour to a Libyan harbour. France then withdrew its units from a NATO unit operating in the Mediterranean (Operation Sea Guardian) and intervened diplomatically.
The situation in Libya is complicated
Russia and Turkey are the prominent players, neighbouring countries are also manipulating. It became known that on 20 July, the Egyptian parliament authorised a possible invasion of Libya by Egyptian forces. Egypt's president is also said to have held out the prospect of arms deliveries to tribes in Libya that are acting against the troops of the unity government. The United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia are providing support with deliveries - and can also use land transport in addition to air and sea transport. Despite the obvious strategic importance of the region for the EU, the defence of European interests is proving difficult, not least because of the issue of migration from Africa.
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