EU urges more effort to tackle Somali piracy

BRUSSELS - Agence France-Presse

The number of successful Somali pirate attacks has fallen but international navies must not drop their guard and keep up the pressure, the commander of the EU mission said June 19.

British Rear Admiral Duncan Potts warned that the gains made against pirates off the Horn of Africa were reversible and that the fight against piracy would only succeed once governance and security improve in Somalia. “Yes we have increased the pressure on the pirates but I think now that we are enjoying tactical success, the importance is increasing that pressure evermore,” Potts told a news conference in Brussels. Since 2008, EU nations have deployed between four and seven combat ship to police an area the size of the EU.

The Atalanta mission is part of the EU’s “comprehensive approach,” which includes financial aid to help give the strife-torn country a functioning government. “There is no room for complacency,” said the EU special representative to the Horn of Africa, Alexander Rondos.