High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, put pressure on Member States on Tuesday 20 November to find a solution to the issue of the disembarkation of migrants/refugees recovered as part of the EUnavfor Med Sophiaoperation.
According to her, without an interim solution on this issue within the next few weeks, the operation, whose mandate runs until 31 December, will stop.
Aware that the disembarkation issue must be resolved in the context of the Dublin reform, however, Ms Mogherini considered that until a solution was found in this context, Ministers should agree on an interim solution concerning persons rescued by vessels from the operation.
“Either the ministers find an interim solution on the issue of disembarkation in the next couple of weeks or we will need to dismantle the operation, and the operation will come to an end”, she warned the press, recalling the support of all ministers for the operation to continue.
Ms Mogherini therefore stated that she expected ministers to instruct their ambassadors to the Political and Security Committee “to work on an interim solution for this particular aspect of the operation so the operation can continue”. “In absence of unanimous, consensual decision, the operation will come to an end”, she insisted.
The High Representative called for a “solution that would only apply to those rescued by Operation Sophia and would not set any precedent for monitoring the decision-making process for the Dublin reform”. She said that any solution found under the Dublin reform would be applied to Sophia.
This proposal is not unanimously supported by all Member States. For example, a diplomatic source of one of them explained that there could be no differentiated treatment between persons collected by the operation's vessels and those collected by other vessels.
According to this diplomat, not reaching agreement on an ad hoc solution would not mean the end of the mission. “It is possible to extend the operation for a few months to give time to find a solution, apply the law of the sea [disembarkation in the nearest safe port] or decide to adapt the operation by refocusing it on other elements”, he explained. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)