Malta wird sein Veto gegen die weitere Finanzierung der EU-Militärmission „Eunavfor med – Irini“ einlegen. Falls die Ankündigung umgesetzt wird, müsste „Irini“ eingestellt werden. Malta macht als Grund geltend, dass die EU die offenen Migrationsfragen im zentralen Mittelmeer nicht regelt, die Malta besonders betreffen würden. Ob sich Malta dabei auch auf wachsende Hindernisse für die private maltesische „Geisterflotte“ bezieht, die Push-Backs und unregistrierte Shuttle-Dienste für Personen und Waren von / nach West- wie Ostlibyen durchführen, ist nicht bekannt. Möglich ist auch eine wachsende Fraktionierung der EU-Staaten gegenüber dem laufenden „Great Game“ um Libyen.
Malta to veto EU funding for naval mission monitoring Libya arms traffic
Government to notify Brussels on FridayMalta insists it cannot continue handling the migration crisis alone.
Malta will vote to freeze financing for a naval mission monitoring arms traffic into Libya on Friday, saying its position will not change until the migration crisis is addressed.
Government sources told Times of Malta that Brussels would in the coming hours be notified that Malta will no longer commit any military assets to Operation Irini, a naval mission launched to enforce the arms embargo on war-torn Libya.
A senior government source said Malta would also be using its veto to block the planned extension of Operation Irini through the use of further military vessels.
Malta will vote to halt extending financing for the mission, which, the source said, means that once the existing financial allocation runs dry, the mission will run out of cash.
The source said the decision was partly motivated by the ongoing migration crisis, as Malta seeks to realign its position on the ongoing Libya conflict.
In its communication to Brussels, the government says the Malta is facing „an unprecedented crisis and disproportionate flows as a result of human smuggling and criminal activities in the central Mediterranean”.
[…] On the same day Irini was launched, Haftar’s forces bombed a hospital, just as the COVID crisis had first kicked in, another source said, pointing out the unevenness of the mission.