Libya
EU to announce future of Operation Sophia off Libyan shores in weeks
The spokeswoman for the European Union’s High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Maja Kocijančič, said the future of Operation Sophia that was launched by the EU in 2015 will be discussed by the end of September.
Kocijančič said the EU is discussing the continuation of Operation Sophia’s mandate, without adding any further details.
She indicated that Operation Sophia is still working despite halting its resources months ago due to the disagreement of EU member states to modify the operations’ methods of Sophia at the request of Italy.
EU’s Operation Sophia has managed over the years to decrease the numbers of illegal immigration from Libyan shores to Italy with shrinking immigrants’ arrivals over the last three years, meanwhile; EU countries have been considering resettling the illegal immigrants who get intercepted off Libyan shores in African countries, including Libya, in return for financial aids.
