Brussels, 12/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - On 10-11 February, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton spoke of her concern about India's decision to use an anti-terrorist law against the two Italian marines who reportedly killed two fishermen in February 2012, mistaking them for pirates.
“What is concerning me most, is that the legislation that appears to be used suggests that somehow this is about terrorism and this has enormous implications for Italy, but also enormous implications for all countries engaged in anti-piracy activities”, Ashton stated at the end of the Foreign Affairs Council. She said that she thought “colleagues need to now be very concerned”. “This alarming for Italy and all the countries of the EU”, she added at a meeting in the European Parliament on 11 February. “If we say that what the Italian marines have done relates to terrorism, this will have consequences on all counter-terrorism actions”, she said, before adding that “Italy could find itself on the list of terrorist activities. That's absolutely unthinkable.”
At the end of the Council, Ashton stated that the EU remains very steadfast in its support to resolve this issue in a straightforward manner and quickly. She reiterated that the case of the two marines had been raised with the Indian authorities on numerous occasions and that the EU is very active with Italy on the ground.
In the view of Italy's Minister of Foreign Affairs Emma Bonino, it is not only a question of the innocence of the marines but also of the image of the EU, as she believes it is “unacceptable” to accuse an EU state of terrorism.
Italy's Prime Minister Enrico Letta has also said that the choice of the Indian Supreme Court to apply anti-terrorist legislation to these two Italian marines is “unacceptable”, and he has asked the court “to examine the affair in correct proportion”. If the Supreme Court validated application of the anti-piracy law, which would equate the incident to an act of terrorism, “this would have negative consequences in [India's] relations with Italy and the EU, with just as negative repercussions on the global fight against piracy”, the government stated in an official note. (CG/transl.fl)