VISIT OF A DELEGATION OF THE EU POLITICO-MILITARY GROUP
11th – 12th December, Rome. EUNAVFOR MED IRINI Operational Headquarters.
A delegation of the Politico-Military Group of the EU, led by the PMG chair, Mr. Linas LINKEVICIUS, visited the headquarters of EUNAVFOR MED IRINI.The Politico-Military Group is a body of the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union that carries out preparatory work for the Political and Security Committee. It covers the political aspects of EU military and civil-military issues, including concepts, capabilities and operations and missions.
IRINI Operation Commander, Rear Admiral Valentino RINALDI, during this relevant meeting with the PMG delegation had the opportunity to illustrate the current State of Play of Operation and to answer questions, with particular reference to the ongoing Strategic Review phase, aimed at renewing the Operation’s mandate at the end of the first trimester of next year.
The current mandate will expire on March 2025 and the Strategic Review process will allow it to be renewed until March 2027, taking into consideration some proposals with the aim to reinforce the tasks and better manage future challenges.
The participation of delegation to the Morning Update Briefing (MUB) and to all the relevant activities of the Operational Headquarters (OHQ) was particularly important to explain the characteristics and possible developments and to facilitate a constructive exchange of ideas.
Furthermore, the delegation had the opportunity to visit the Joint Operation Centre, the heart of IRINI’s OHQ, that operates on a 24/7 basis maintaining real-time Maritime Situational Awareness across the entire Area of Operation, and finally held a video conference with the Force Commander, Commodore Prokopios CHARITOS, that from the Flag Ship at sea provided further details on the Operation and described the ongoing activities.
The visit was an important moment of meeting and exchange of ideas with the European Institutions, useful for strengthening the spirit and charting the course for the development of the Operation.
