On February 13th, Rear Admiral Haggren from the Royal Swedish Navy has assumed Command of the EU Naval Force at the Sea in Operation Atalanta.
The new Commander Rear Admiral Jonas Haggren (right)with Rear Admiral Paolo Pezzutti(centre) and Rear Admiral Guido Rando the Deputy Commander of the EU Naval Force (left) February 2015 ©European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta
This transferring Command makes the second time for the Royal Swedish Navy to be in Command of the Counter-Piracy Task Force on the coast of Somalia.
“I am looking forward to this important role and am confident that we will do our very best to support the operation.” elaborated Rear Admiral Haggren in his speech during the ceremony.
As the new Commander of the Operation, in one of his first official tour Rear Admiral Haggren visited ‘Frigate FGS Bayern’ from the German Navy on February 24th. His visit was warmly welcomed by the Commanding Officer Commander Frank Fahnrich and the crews.
Commander Rear Admiral Jonas Haggren during his visit the German Navy Frigate, FGS Bayern February 2015 ©European Union Naval Force Operation Atalanta
The EU Naval Force for Operation Atalanta is the largest combined European Naval forces that are working in unison for Counter-Piracy in the coast of Somalia. The mission was established under UN Security Council and was mandated and set into Operation since December 2008.
In November 2014 the Council of European Union announced the extension of the mandate for Operation Atalanta until 12 December 2016.
There are currently 21 EU States and 2 non-EU States are taking part in this Mission.
*For more details on die Bundeswehr’s engagement in Operation Atalanta please see also:
https://deutschlandinderwelt.org/2013/06/15/die-operation-atalanta-1/
By Catherine Stella Schmidt
Europe in the World 