Italy not asked to join NATO in Aegean

(ANSA) - Brussels, February 11 - Italy has not been asked to contribute to a new NATO mission to fight human traffickers and illegal immigration in the Aegean Sea, Defence Minister Roberta Pinotti said on Thursday.
    "I would say that we are doing our part in the fight against terrorism and traffickers," she said.
    Pinotti said earlier this week that NATO should help Italy as well as Aegean nations combat people smugglers.
    US Defense Ash Carter announced earlier on Thursday that a NATO defence ministers meeting had approved the Aegean Sea mission to fight the human traffickers, per a request from Turkey. The mission is to be carried out by Germany, Greece, and Turkey in cooperation with the EU, many of whose member States have offered vessels, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. Its objective is to fight traffickers and not to "stop or send migrant vessels back where they came from," he said. Asylum seekers rescued by NATO will be taken to Turkey, he said. Vessels contributed by Greece and Turkey will operate only within their respective national waters. The mission will begin "reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal border crossings immediately", he added. It will employ three vessels from Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), a multinational maritime force that is permanently available to the Alliance for a range of tasks - from training exercises to crisis response and real world operational missions. Usually it is employed in the Mediterranean. NATO Supreme Commander General Philip M. Breedlove was "en route" to the SMG2, Stoltenberg said.