Deputy Commander EU NAVFOR visits Djibouti

Mar 08, 2010 - 13:57
Rear Admiral Bartolome Bauzá, Deputy Commander of EU NAVFOR Somalia -Operation ATALANTA, paid a recent visit to Djibouti to meet with key political  and military authorities in the country.

He also visited the Force HQ Support Area, the Spanish, German and French Maritime Patrol Aircraft (MPA) detachments, the Combined Joint Task Force, Horn Of Africa and the Japanese MPRA detachment in Camp Lemonier.

During the trip, the EU Ambassador, Mr Nicola Delcroix, organised a reception, which was co – hosted by RAdm Bauzá, in order to express his gratitude for the support received from Djiboutian authorities and French representatives. He took the opportunity to emphasize the transfer of authority from the French Embassy to the EU Delegation for Operation ATALANTA matters.

During his call on political authorities, RAdm Bauzá expressed EUNAVFOR’s gratitude for all the support received by Djibouti, and proposed increasing the relationship with ATALANATA and enhancing EU/Djiboutian.

During the visit to General Fathi Ahmed Houssein, the Chief of Joint Staff of National Armed Forces, thanked the Djiboutian Armed Forces for their constant support. He also proposed closer cooperation with the Djiboutian Navy to enable them to conduct surveillance, engaged in counter-piracy operation outside in the Djiboutian EEZ and in the GOA in close coordination with coalition forces.

EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP) and vessels of AMISOM, and to protect vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.

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