On Saturday 31 January the Chairman of the EU Military Committee, General Patrick de Rousiers, visited the Spanish Maritime Patrol Aircraft ‘Orion’ Detachment based in Djibouti. The General was welcomed to Djibouti by EU Ambassador, His Excellency Mr Joseph Silva, before attending meetings with both the Djiboutian Foreign Minister and the Defense Minister; focusing primarily on the issues of internal securityand security in the Horn of Africa, he thanked the two ministers for the support that the government and the Djiboutian Armed forces have provided to Operation Atalanta and EUCAP NESTOR.

The General concluded both meetings by commending the Djiboutian government and armed forces for the conduct of the Hill Battalions deployed to Somalia.

Later in the day, the General met the staff from the Djiboutian based Support Element Atalanta; he was then welcomed to the Spanish Maritime Patrol Aircraft ‘Orion’ detachment team by the Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Javier Alameda (Spanish Air Force).

During his visit to the MPRA team, the General was briefed about the capabilities of the Casa-235 Vigma aircraft and the Detachment’s role as part of the European Union’s counter-piracy Operation Atalanta off the coast of Somalia.

The distinguished guests were given the opportunity to embark the aircraft, where they met the crew and received a demonstration about the on board equipment.

Before he departed, General de Rousiers expressed his appreciation for the professionalism, effort and dedication of all the Spanish Orion crew in accomplishing their important mission.