The Italy-led EU
anti-migrant smuggling operation in the Mediterranean Sea -
known as EUNAVFOR Med or Operation Sophia - needs financing,
Italian Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said Tuesday.
Lack of funds also prevents use of the Union's Battle
Groups - battalion-sized units contributed by a coalition of
member States under the Common Security and Defence Policy
(CSDP) of the European Union (EU).
"The battle groups could be put to use but the issue is the
financing mechanism - the same problem we're facing with
Operation Sophia, which has been additionally tasked with
training Libya's Coast Guard and Navy," Pinotti said.
That training program is to be paid for entirely by the
country conducting the training, the defence minister told ANSA.
"And in this case, that's Italy," she said.
"Clearly the problem lies in the financing mechanism:
common objectives require common resources. The same goes for
the Battle Groups," Pinotti said.
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