The European Union operation taking place off the coast of Somalia has checked pirate activity and secured food access to those in need on the mainland, a statement by the Swedish presidency of the EU said after a meeting of EU defence ministers.
 
The operation is also an opportunity for the EU to improve co-operation in the area of defence, the September 29 2009 statement said.
 
At the conclusion of the meeting of defence ministers in Göteborg, discussions focused on, among other things, ongoing EU operations in countries outside the EU, according to the statement.
 
Since the commencement of the EU military operation in the Gulf of Aden in 2008, almost 280 000 tons of food have been escorted to those in need in Somalia, as ships from the UN food programme have been guided to safety.
 
Altogether 68 pirates have been taken into custody, of whom many have been taken to Kenya to face legal proceedings.
 
The EU’s Operation Atalanta was recently extended by a furthre 12 months and will continue until the end of 2010.
 
"We can learn many lessons from Atalanta, for example about the co-operation between military actors and the merchant fleets, which works well.
 
"This also raises the issue of establishing a more modern communications system for information exchange between the EU countries during this type of operation," Sten Tolgfors, minister of defence of Sweden, who hosted the ministerial meeting.
 
Tolgfors also drew parallels between the defence ministers’ September 28 discussions on improved civilian-military cooperation in the Baltic Sea and what lessons could be learnt from this.
 
"As the operation continues, the EU seeks to intensify its engagement in Somalia itself," the statement said.
 
"During today’s discussions, it became apparent that the EU would like to examine the possibilities of providing further support to development and state-building, via the African Union activities in the area."
 
The ministers also discussed the legal proceedings that are underway in Somalia’s neighbour Kenya against suspected pirates handed over by the EU.
 
Althea, the EU-led operation in Bosnia and Herzegovina, was also discussed.
 
"The political situation in the country is still complicated, which creates uncertainty about how the continued EU presence is to be organised," the statement said.
 
It said that at the ministerial meeting, there was widespread agreement that future military operations should be remodelled to focus on training the country's armed forces. When this transition can take place is as yet unknown.
 
"We very much hope that this can happen in the near future. But we know that the work in Bosnia and Herzegovina requires some effort and demands that we are vigilant about the domestic political situation,"Javier Solana, High Representative for the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy, told a news conference after the meeting.
 
Also discussed  was Afghanistan. "Our discussions did not focus primarily on the military presence, but rather on how the EU can coordinate its work with that of others, for example, the UN and Nato," Tolgfors said.