High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini cast doubt on the continuity of Operation Sophia, the European naval mission led by Rome to fight illegal immigration, in a Tuesday press conference.
Mogherini, vice-president of the European Commission, explained that there are “many disagreements” between the participating countries regarding the operation, which may eventually risk termination by the end of March, unless all states reach an agreement on it.
Three days ago, Italy’s far-right Interior Minister Matteo Salvini was cited in Italian media complaining that people rescued by Sophia are only offloaded in Italy.
The complaint is part of an outstanding dispute by Salvini, who last year insisted that people should be disembarked in other EU states.
Europe’s military operation in the Mediterranean, which is meant to combat people smugglers, enforce an arms embargo and save lives at sea off the coast of Libya could end this month if Italy refused to extend its role.
Rome’s divided government has not taken a final position, but Salvini, whose popularity has soared with each anti-immigrant action, seems determined to halt Operation Sophia when its mandate comes up for renewal on 31 March, according to Italian media outlets.
The debate over Sophia comes earlier than two months before the European Parliament election in which Salvini’s far-right League Party is forecast to make sweeping gains.
“Sophia was meant to fight people smugglers and ended up bringing 45,000 migrants to Italy,” Salvini said in earlier press statement.
The EU launched Operation Sophia in 2015 to capture smugglers and stop human trafficking operations across the Mediterranean, as well as enforce a weapons embargo on Libya.
Sophia currently deploys three ships, three airplanes, and two helicopters, which are permitted to use lethal force if necessary, though its mandate also includes training Libya’s coast guard.
The EU formally extended Operation Sophia by three months at the end of December 2018.
In the late February , Sanalla declared NOC’s conditions to reopen the field, including the safety of workers and the departure of the armed groups responsible for the field’s closure, saying these groups terrorized the workers.
To put an end to the chaos at Libya’s biggest oilfield with the production of 35,000 barrels per day, the NOC has initiated criminal proceedings against these groups with “evidence of their criminal acts,” he added.
