Estonia to send one officer to help tackle human trafficking in Mediterranean
The foreign ministers of the European Union have put forward a plan to launch EUNavFor Med operation against human trafficking in the Mediterranean Sea. Estonia is to contribute with one staff officer, to be based at the EUNAVFOR headquarters in Rome.
Spokesman of the Estonian Defense Ministry, Artur Jugaste, said the officer will help with the logistics of the operation, although his or her exact duties are yet to be determined. It is also still to be decided who the participating officer will be.
The Estonian Parliament has given its approval for the deployment of up to five active duty officers to the headquarters of NATO and EU-led EUNavFor Med operation.
The operation includes a creation of a naval force which would dispose vessels, many of them unseaworthy, that the smugglers use to ferry people out to the Mediterranean Sea.
Editor: M. Oll