EU to launch new Libya arms embargo mission in Mediterranean

European Union nations agreed on Thursday to launch a new air and naval mission in the Mediterranean, to monitor the UN arms embargo in Libya, with Greece agreeing to take in any migrants rescued at sea and the bloc sharing the harbor costs.
The so-called “Operation Irini”, will start patrolling off Libya’s coast in April, replacing the “Operation Sophia”, which had been suspended in summer 2018, when the Italian government aligned with other anti-immigrant EU governments that were also seeking to stop migration waves from reaching Europe.
The previous operation, formally known as the European Union Naval Force Mediterranean (EU NAVFOR Med) and whose mandate expands at the end of March, had saved thousands of lives of people trying to cross from Libya to Italy or Malta.
While the mission’s main mandate would be to monitor the arms embargo, European ships are required to rescue those in trouble at sea, under International Law.