27/02/2012 (Agence Europe) - Atalanta mandate extended. In its conclusions adopted on 27 February, the Council commends the significant contribution of the EU naval operation EUNAVFOR Atalanta to countering piracy. According to the Council's conclusions, since its launch in December 2008, Atalanta has been successfully escorting the World Food Program (WFP) and African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) shipments to Somalia, protecting the most vulnerable shipping and deterring, preventing and repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast, thus contributing to the security and economic activity of the countries in the region and of the international community as a whole. (LC/transl.fl)