On February 18, Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil sent off six soldiers from the Austrian contingent to the EU mission EUNAVFOR MED “SOPHIA” (European Union Naval Force – Mediterranean Operation Sophia).
Two officers have already been on the Italian aircraft carrier “Cavour” in the Mediterranean since February 10. Today, five soldiers will be transferred to the operational headquarters in Rome. The staff officers will be involved in the mission for six months. Two each come from Carinthia and Vienna, one each from Upper Austria, Lower Austria and Styria. A total of seven staff officers will be deployed to the mission; the commander is Lieutenant Colonel Harald Klimmer. With the “SOPHIA” mission, the European Union is taking action against the organized trafficking and smuggling of people in the southern and central Mediterranean. With the help of aerial and satellite images, the task force collects information about smuggling gangs and patrols off the coast of Libya to observe and uncover migration networks. If there is suspicion of people smuggling, ships are stopped, searched and, if necessary, confiscated. So far, 9,000 people have been rescued from distress at sea and 46 smugglers have been handed over to the Italian authorities. 76 ships have been confiscated so far. With its participation in the “SOPHIA” mission, Austria is making an active contribution to curbing illegal migration and smuggling alongside 22 other EU states, including Spain, Germany, Italy and France. Six ships, a submarine and four reconnaissance aircraft as well as 1,341 people are currently deployed for the operation. The EU operation in the Mediterranean is named after a Somali refugee girl. She was born on the German ship “Schleswig-Holstein” after her parents were rescued off the coast of Libya on August 22, 2015. The mission was subsequently named EUNAVFOR MED SOPHIA in September 2015.
