The Council of the EU announced on 25 September that as of 1 October, Major General Antonio Planells Palau is appointed Operation Commander of EU Naval Force Operation Atalanta, which is the Union’s counter-piracy military operation at sea off the Horn of Africa and in the Western Indian Ocean.

Apart from contributing to the prevention and repression of acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast, the operation also supports other EU missions and programmes in the region.

The EU’s comprehensive approach to Somalia includes complementary missions under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy: EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta, EUCAP Somalia, enhancing Somalia’s maritime civilian law enforcement capacity and EUTM Somalia, providing political and strategic level military advice to the Somali authorities and contributing to the development of the Somali National Army’s own training capacity.