Belgium – European Affairs Magazine

Two UN experts abducted. Grand Kasaï: Belgium is pressing

21 Marzo 2017 BreakingNews @en di

The kidnapping of two members of United Nation accompanied by 4 Congolese poses a big problem that urges everybody to react. The Belgium- by its Vice first Secretary of the Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders- is making pressures in this way. In a statement, she asked the Congolese authorities to find as quickly as possible these missing person. This kidnapping rapresents, for Secretary Didier, an infringement of the efforts the international community is undertaking. For this reason, one Rapresentative of the United Nations made a tour to Kanaga last week, in order to have a better idea of the security situation of this part of RDC. He reaffirmed as well the determination of MONUSCO to regain peace and stability. The Belgium could’t avoid to evoke the Kamuina Nsapu phenomenon, which causes problems in Kasai since August 2016. It called back too that MONUSCO is undertaking a mission consisting in the insitution of the peace since December 2016. The most besieged cities are: Kananga, Tshimbulu, Luiza and Kabeya.

The man who coordinated the deadly attacks in Paris and Brussels has been identified

10 Novembre 2016 BreakingNews @en/Defence di

A Belgian-Moroccan jihadist operating in Syria is believed to have organised the deadly attacks on Paris and Brussels, sources say. For months intelligence teams have been trying to identify a man known as Abou Ahmad, involved in recruiting a number of Islamist militants for attacks across Europe. They now believe they have identified him as Oussama Ahmad Atar. He is linked to bombers who targeted Paris in 2015 and Brussels in March.

Migrants: phase 2 of EUNAVFOR MED is started

24 Ottobre 2015 Defence di

The second phase of EUNAVFOR MED, “Sofia”, started in October. It takes name from a Somali child born during a critic journey in the Mediterranean and rescued by a German ship last August.

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The project aims to stop the trafficking of human beings intercepting smugglers in the sea. The monitoring of international waters, aims to search, control and seize suspicious craft, and it is entrusted to military ships, helicopters and drones. All this, within the framework of the objectives set in July by the European Union to stem the crisis of migrants in the Mediterranean: identification, arrest and destruction of boats and means used by traffickers.

Currently, six European warships are engaged offshore Libya: an Italian one, an English one, a French one, a Spanish one and two German, but later this month three other means should be made available from England, Belgium and Slovenia. Four helicopters, many drones and 1300 military will be added to these.

According to Admiral Enrico Credendino, head of mission, “the order is enforcing law by the use of force, to dislocate traffickers’ business. While the first phase aimed to find the necessary information about transnational criminal network, the second phase provides for the boarding of vessels, their inspection, the reception of migrants, the arrest of traffickers and the destruction of their boats. All this, however, within international waters, 12 nautical miles away from the Libyan coast. We need a United Nations decision and an invitation from Libyan government to operate directly in the territorial waters. The third next phase would allow the temporary landing on the ground for the destruction of smugglers’ structures “.

This last phase, which hasn’t yet received the green light of the EU, would actually be the most effective, since it is in Libyan waters that most of the smugglers operate, but – as the Italian Foreign minister Paolo Gentiloni says – ”UN Security Council can’t authorize this intervention without the express request of Libya “.

14 European countries are participating in EUNAVFOR MED: Italy, UK, Germany, France, Spain, Slovenia, Greece, Luxembourg, Belgium, Finland, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Sweden. The costs of military intervention – apart from an annually European contribution of 12 million Euros – are supported by the individual participating countries. Italy has contributed to the mission with a budget of 26 million euro and 1.020 soldiers.
Viviana Passalacqua

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