A force commander for Operation Irini. Finally ! (v3)
(B2) The European naval force off Libya responsible for monitoring the arms embargo (EUNAVFOR Med Irini) will officially have a force commander in a few days. Malta lifted its veto. EU ambassadors are due to launch the written procedure on this appointment this Wednesday (27 May)
NB: The information was officially confirmed on Thursday (May 28) by a communicated of the Council of the EU. The Force Commander will command aboard the ship of his nationality. Which still requires a few days according to our information. The Italian ship is not yet in the area.
The end of a psychodrama
The appointment of the Force Commander was not easy. It first gave rise to a showdown between Athens and Rome, who were fighting over the post. Then the reality of migration erupted with the Maltese desire to find a solution to the arrival of migrants on the island.
Malta renounces
The Valletta government finally gave up vetoing the appointment of the new force commander for Operation Irini in the Mediterranean, preferring to abstain. Malta wanted to force the countries of the European Union to accept a distribution of the migrants taken care of on two tourist boats of the company Captain Morgan, according to the daily Malta Today.
A shared command between Italy and Greece
Italian Rear Admiral Ettore Socci will thus be able to be appointed commander of the naval force. A mandate retroactive to the start of the operation (April 1) until October 18. This is more of a regularization than an appointment. He will then be relieved by his Greek counterpart, Commodore Theodoros Mikropoulos, who will take over from October 19, 2020 to March 31, 2021. A command-sharing agreement resulting from a compromise between Athens and Rome, who fought to win the leadership of this new maritime operation.
An Italian rear admiral, already present in the EUNAVFOR Med operation
Hired at 18
Born in Taranto on April 1, 1967, enlisted in the Italian navy at the age of 18, in 1985, Ettore Socci graduated from the Naval Academy in maritime and naval sciences four years later. He served as an operational officer, from 1990 to 2001, aboard several ships, from corvettes to destroyers, sailing between the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf and the Indian Ocean. He commanded the supply ship Brenta, was second in command of the frigate Mistral (F570) from between 2005 and 2006, then as commander of the supply ship Stromboli (A5327) between 2006 and 2007. It served in several operations 'Sharp Guard','Maritime Monitor','Maritime Guard' NATO and 'Sharp Vigilance' of the WEU, deployed off Yugoslavia to monitor the arms embargo decreed by the United Nations.
A craftsman of the EU's maritime strategy
Ashore, he was head of the "Electronic Warfare" branch in the Department of Studies and Projects of the General Staff of the Italian Navy from 2001 to 2004. Then head of the 'General Staff' branch in the General Office as head of Italian defense from 2007 to 2011. He then left for Brussels, to lead the 'Policy and concepts' branch at the Italian military representation. In particular, he participates in the development of the EU's maritime security strategy, and chairs the group of 'Friends of the Presidency' of the Council, during the Italian Presidency.
From Augusta to Sophia
From September 2015 to June 2017, he commanded the naval base of Augusta, in Sicily. Essential point of logistical support and maintenance of the Italian Navy which served as a logistical rear base for Operation Sophia (read: The details of the means of Operation Sophia / EUNAVFOR Med. Shortcomings at the FHQ). He then joined Operation EUNAVFOR MED first as a military assistant to Operation Commander Enrico Credendino, from July 2017 to December 2018, then as Force Commander from June 2019 (read: A new Force Commander at EUNAVFOR Med. Good knowledge of Operation Sophia). A mandate which was then confined above all to aerial means (drones and planes), the naval means of the operation having been removed.
The relay by a Greek officer in October
Born in Athens in May 1965, Theodoros Mikropoulos also joined his country's navy at a very young age. At the age of 19, he joined the naval academy as a cadet and graduated in 1988. Since March 2019, he has been commander of the Souda naval base after having served in the navy for nearly 36 years.
A man from the patrol
He commanded the patrol boat Panagopoulos (P-61) from 1990 to 1991, the supply ship Ouranos (A-416) in 1998-1999, the fast patrol boat with guided missiles Blessed (P-21) between 2000 and 2002 and the frigate Navarinon (F-461) from 2011 to 2013.
He also served as Director of Intelligence (N2) and Deputy Director of the Maritime Operations Center (MOC) of the Naval Staff (2013-2015), Chief of the Command of the Fast Patrol Boats (2017-2018) and Chief office of the Chief of the Naval Staff. He is named commodore (Rear Admiral) in 2019.
(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)
Download the CV by Ettore Socci and the CV by Theodoros Mikropoulos
Article supplemented with biographical elements of the Greek officer + the decision of the Council and the explanations on the position of Malta
