DefenseNews
Wednesday, July 17, 2013
The European Union is stepping up its efforts to help Somalia
stabilize itself while continuing with its counterpiracy operations off
the Somali coast.“We need to continue to disrupt and deter the
pirates until the conditions ashore mean that Somalia can look after its
territorial waters,” said a senior EU official in the off-record part
of a news conference here July 16.
“The number of pirate attacks
has diminished dramatically,” said Nick Westcott from the EU’s External
Action Service. The fight against piracy will continue, he said, but
EU’s long-term resolution is to put in place a government that can
ensure law, order and security in Somalia.
“This is a growing focus of activities,” he said.
The EU aims to reach an agreement with the international community on a new deal for Somalia at a conference in September.
“The
new deal compact is designed for fragile states. It’s a document
enabling the [Somali] government to set out priorities to re-establish
government in the country and the international community to commit
itself to support those priorities,” he said. The compact is currently
being negotiated in Somalia.
According to figures from the EU’s
counterpiracy operation force (EU NavFor) website, pirate attacks were
down to three thus far in 2013 compared with 35 in 2012 and a high of
176 in 2011.
In the last six months, a senior EU source said 21
suspect pirates had been captured, six pirate action groups followed and
disrupted and one confirmed attack.
“This is the lowest period of
activity since the start of Atalanta [the EU’s mission],” said the
source. Currently, 54 hostages and one ship are held by pirates. “We
can’t be complacent about this tactical success,” he cautioned.
Asked
if there was a need for fewer ships and less equipment in these
circumstances, the source said that the number of ships was “probably at
the right level.” There are currently between four and six ships in the
area.
“ISR assets are very effective. You can’t support
operations without good ISR. We do, it works and we don’t want to reduce
them at the moment,” he said. As for ships, “the frigate is still the
standard we need and it works well,” he said.
Another EU source
said there were about 25 ships in the area at any one time from a range
of countries and all acted as a deterrent to pirates. The different
countries coordinate the ship deployments through an informal
anti-piracy working group. In this context, there is also an IT tool
where countries in the region can express a request (e.g. for items such
as radar or night vision goggles) and countries from the EU and other
parts of the world can make offers.
Overall, Westcott said the EU
had spent nearly €1 billion (US $1.3 billion) in Somalia in various
forms, including security and humanitarian aid, over the last four or
five years.