Pinotti sees Op Sophia financing

(ANSA) - Brussels, September 27 - 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.