Incident: EU decides to patrol Seychelles

The European Union decides to include the Seychelles in the area of operations its forces will patrol for pirates.

There was unanimity "to extend the coverage up to the Seychelles, to reinforce the capacity of the air and naval patrols, which have already had good results, and prolong the duration of its operations," beyond the current December mandate, Spanish Defence Minister Carme Chacon said after that meeting.

The EU is running Operation Atalanta using naval resources from German, Swedish, Spanish, French, Greek, and Italian navies. The EU force will be augmented by contributions from Belgium, the Netherlands, Romania and non-members Norway and Switzerland in the future. (ONI Worldwide Threat to Shipping, 5/27/09)