The European Commission is “establishing facts” and speaks to all sides of alleged shootings by the Libyan Coast Guard, a crew and survivors of the humanitarian NGO boat ocean viking in international waters on Sunday.
“We’ve seen reports of the report. We’ve contacted the relevant Libyan authorities to clarify the facts about this reported incident. The relevant Libyan authorities are now urgently revealing what happened.”
“It’s clearly a worrying development that doesn’t make us indifferent. We have established facts based on that evidence, we will assess the situation and consider possible actions,” added spokesman Paula Pinho.
The attack was made from a Colovian class patrol vessel made in Italy and funded by the EU, according to an NGO that was previously attacked by a similar patrol vessel in July 2023.
At a ceremony held in the city of Messina, southern Italy at the end of June 2023, two Corbia-class patrol ships donated EU funds to the Libyan coast guard. The donations were part of the EU-Libyan cooperation framework on migration management.
However, documented attacks on humanitarian and fishing vessels by the Libyan coast guard aggravated cooperation between Brussels and the North African state.
For example, on July 7, 2023, one of two patrol ships donated to Messina was used to fire on the Ocean Viking while Libyans were rescued in international waters.
On Tuesday, journalists asked if the European Commission took any action as a result of the shooting after the 2023 facts. However, the Commission was unable to answer at daily press conferences.
“We have to go back to this. I’m not aware of this incident that happened a few years ago, I’m afraid,” Rammart said.
“All these search and rescue operations must be run with the necessary diligence and fully appeal to international and international maritime law,” he added.
Since the collapse of dictator Muammar Gadafi in 2011, Libya has been in a state of civil war, with various regions controlled by rival governments and thousands of local militias.
In the meantime, the country has become a transport hub for immigrants coming from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
Militias involved in human trafficking and smuggling have been documented for committing abuse and torture of migrants over the years.
Despite these facts, the EU has continued to work with Libyan authorities to stop migrants from reaching European coasts.
The incident took place in international waters
The incident on Sunday occurred about 40 nautical miles from the northern coast of Libya. The marine viking was approached by a patrol vessel run by the Libyan coast guard.
Libyan coast guards will not have the authority to force NGOs to travel from international waters. The NGO claims it has agreed to leave the area due to the threat and track record of dangerous actions by the Coast Guard.
They claim that while they were leaving the engine, two men began shooting with a marine viking at head height for about 20 minutes.
The crew and survivors were not killed or injured, but the NGO boats were heavily damaged.
“The attack caused a bullet hole at head height, multiple antennae destruction, four broken windows on the bridge, with some bullets striking and damaging three rescue boats along with other rescue equipment,” the NGO said in a press release.
After the incident, the Ocean Viking issued a call for distress without assistance from a nearby ship, the NGO said.
Under international law, all boats in areas of difficult separate containers seeking assistance must respond and provide assistance.
Libyan authorities were approached for comment.
