Like in a eulogy at a funeral, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, praised the EUNAVFOR Med Operation Sophia, which will end on 31 March.
"We must congratulate ourselves on Sophia, which ends with a successful outcome, it is an extraordinary success, it was a good initiative", he said at the end of the informal meeting of Defence Ministers in Zagreb, during which EU operations were discussed.
The High Representative recalled that, since its launch in May 2015, more than 500 'boats' involved in human trafficking had been destroyed, 151 people arrested and more than 41,000 people rescued.
The mission will be replaced in the coming weeks by a mission to monitor compliance with the arms embargo on Libya. Speaking to the press, Borrell said the political and military committees were working to define the rules of engagement for the new mission and "the availability of ships to have all the necessary resources" to implement it.
The High Representative said he hoped an agreement could be reached at the Foreign Affairs Council of the EU on 23 March, "so that the mission can be launched by April". (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)