EU extends countertrafficking mission for extra year

The 28 European Union (EU) nations agreed on 13 May to broaden and extend the EU’s counter-human trafficking mission in the Mediterranean for a year.

The decision extends the mandate of Operation ‘Sophia’ by one year and its goal of disrupting human smugglers and traffickers operating in the Mediterranean.

However, the mission will also carry out the new tasks of training and building the capabilities of the Libyan Coastguard and Navy.

The mission’s operational commander has been instructed to begin operational planning on the new tasks immediately given the “urgency” of the situation in Libya, according to EU officials.

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