After the Pirates, Smugglers Claims EU Senior Commander
Source: Bruxelles2 
The questions on the post-Atalanta operation have arisen. Speaking at the SecDef13, Rear Admiral Eric Dupont, Deputy Commander of EUNAVFOR Atalanta, looks back on the success of the mission, but also suggested that a conclusion too early in the operation could begin to destablise Somalia.
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Pirates abandoning a pirated dhow at the height of piracy in 2011 (archives B2 - Credit: CBC)
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Piracy contained, not removed
"Atalanta helped stem the growth of piracy" off the Somali coast. But piracy is "not so far removed," he warned. Finishing the mission at the end of 2014 (as expected) may therefore be dangerous, he said. "Private investors in organized crime" would benefit from this abandonment "to support their activity would prove a significant windfall."
Fragile situation
"The internal political situation in Somalia or potential for organized crime" are factors weakening the area, he said. And "EUNAVFOR is a key" to success in stabilizing the area. Keep a maritime action area, along with a political action and capacity building on the ground, is therefore necessary. "Only EU can do that (...) because the European Union is a political union," he said, emphasizing implicitly the different actions in the region.
NB: The mandate of the Atalanta mission ends in December 2014. But discussions have started within the European Union on a possible extension. In the region, the European Union has set up two other missions: EUTM Somalia for training Somali forces (established in Uganda and partly in Mogadishu) and EUCAP NESTOR for maritime capacity-building (based in Djibouti).
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