The European Union will deploy a naval operation off the eastern Libyan coast

A new maritime operation by the European Union will once again concern the Libyan coast, but will concern control of the eastern part of the country. The aim will be to control the embargo on the potential supply of weapons. The European presence in the southern Mediterranean wants to reiterate the role of Brussels in the area, after new international players, Egypt, Russia and Turkey, have entered the Libyan country, effectively filling the political and military void created by the Union. Reaching the agreement with the various European countries was not easy: the fear of Italy, Austria and Hungary about a possible increase in illegal immigration across the sea, favored, in fact, by the presence of the ships of the European mission, represented an obstacle which was overcome with laborious negotiations. However, the vessels engaged in the control of the embargo cannot escape the law of the sea which provides for the rescue of shipwrecked people. This aspect inevitably affects the problem of the division of migrants between European countries: a question which, for the moment, remains open, because it has been postponed to a future meeting. Despite this obstacle, often the cause of profound frictions between member countries, the strategic importance of putting in place the new naval operation has overcome, at least for now, all the contrasts, precisely because it is considered essential to reaffirm the European commitment in the Mediterranean. However, precisely because it will only be a naval operation, the result can only be limited to supplies by sea, while control over land routes will not be possible due to the absence of a direct commitment on the ground. Certainly the control will also concern the airspace and the ships used will also be the military bases of the radars engaged in these operations. The result that is being sought is to isolate the rebel forces from the Tripoli government, recognized by the international community. At the same time, the ships engaged will also have the task of controlling human trafficking, probably by contrasting the sea activities of human traffickers. From a military point of view, the presence of warships of other international subjects could create the conditions, at least potential, for critical situations capable of creating a range of accidents, ranging from diplomatic to military confrontation. The possibility of these events occurring is far from remote, especially if we consider the attitude held by the military apparatus of Moscow and Ankara, present in the Mediterranean with military naval means and beyond. But precisely the increasing presence of military vessels from non-allied states of Europe has determined this operation which is also the natural evolution of the policy chosen for Libya. The refusal of a military commitment on the ground, also due to the different views of the most important members, due to particular interests placed above the general ones (see the behavior of Paris) led to the elaboration of a tactic that is the product of the lowest common denominator of the ideas of the European nations. The result obtained is that of pursuing the military embargo with the maritime blockade: a decision that seems hypocritical in the face of possible alternative solutions available to the contenders. How effective time will be to say it, of course, a non-positive result will only harm the prestige of the Union, which will however not be able to neglect diplomatic action. The combination of the two actions will say that Brussels is the current strength in the international arena.