EU countries agree on mandate for new "Irene" mission

The EU is returning to the Mediterranean by ship after a year of absence. The 27 EU countries agreed on a mandate for their new mission to monitor the arms embargo against Libya. It didn't look like it for a long time.

Brussels (AP) - The EU has agreed on a mandate for the new "Irene" mission to enforce the UN arms embargo against Libya.

The ambassadors of the 27 EU countries agreed on Thursday in Brussels that the new operation should monitor the embargo from the air, via satellite and at sea, as the German press agency learned from diplomatic circles. The international community is returning to the Mediterranean after a year of absence with ships. The decision has to be confirmed in writing by the capitals.

In principle, the foreign ministers had already agreed on such a mission in February, which is to replace Operation "Sophia", which will expire at the end of March. Nevertheless, the agreement reached on Thursday was difficult. The maritime part of the mission was particularly controversial.

Austria, but also other countries such as Hungary, were concerned that such an operation could lead to more migrants taking the dangerous crossing from Africa to Europe because they could expect to be saved. The agreement of the Foreign Ministers took these concerns into account. After that, the ships should not be deployed in the central Mediterranean, but much further east, far away from the escape routes, for example off Benghazi or the Suez Canal.

Nevertheless, Hungary and Austria initially blocked negotiations in the past few weeks. Most recently, the question also arose as to which countries would potentially take in rescued people and where they should land first.

The maritime part of Operation "Sophia" had already failed on this question and was therefore discontinued a year ago. The mission was originally intended to curb smuggling and human trafficking in the Mediterranean. At the same time, migrants were repeatedly rescued from distress - international maritime law obliges them to do so.

The eastern shift is intended to circumvent this on the new "Irene" mission. In addition to monitoring the arms embargo, it is also intended to monitor organized crime that is responsible for migration. The EU also plans to continue training the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy.

After the Berlin Libya summit in January, the EU agreed to oversee the UN arms embargo. The embargo has been in effect since 2011, but is largely ineffective. In Berlin, 16 countries had agreed to stop outside intervention in the Libya conflict. The violations of the arms embargo continue nonetheless.