The Bundestag extended the mandate for Germany’s participation in the EU naval mission to enforce the UN’s arms embargo on Libya for a further year after a vote on Thursday.
A majority of lawmakers in the German lower house voted in favour of the motion, meaning some 300 service personnel will remain part of the EUNAVFOR Med Irini mission in the Central Mediterranean.
The operation is a key part of the peace process led by the United Nations aiming to bring stability to Libya, with the mission the only actor enforcing the arms embargo on the high seas.
The mission has tracked around 13,000 ships since it began in March 2020, the German Defence Ministry said. At least 26 ships have been boarded, and at least three of them were found to have violated the arms embargo.
Alongside preventing the smuggling of weapons into Libya, the mission also aims to prevent oil from being smuggled out of the country.
Libya descended into chaos following a 2011 uprising. The North African country is split between two rival governments – one in Tripoli and the other in the east of the country.
