EU/Somalia

Javier SOLANA, EU High Rep­re­sen­ta­tive for the Com­mon For­eign and Secu­ri­ty Pol­i­cy (CFSP), con­grat­u­lat­ed today Com­modore Anto­nios PAPAIOANNOU of Greece who has been des­ig­nat­ed as the EU Force Com­man­der for the EU mil­i­tary oper­a­tion to con­tribute to the deter­rence, pre­ven­tion and repres­sion of acts of pira­cy and armed rob­bery off the Soma­li coast, which is being planned. Javier SOLANA made the fol­low­ing comments:

“I would like to con­grat­u­late Com­modore Anto­nios Papaioan­nou on his appoint­ment as the EU Force Com­man­der for oper­a­tion EU AVFOR Soma­lia, the first EU naval oper­a­tion in the frame­work of the Euro­pean Secu­ri­ty and Defence Policy.

Com­modore Papaioan­nou brings his own con­sid­er­able exper­tise and the expe­ri­ence of his nation­al navy to his role as Force com­man­der for this oper­a­tion in a new area for the EU. In the accom­plish­ment of his tasks, he will have my full sup­port and that of the Euro­pean Union as a whole.”

Annex: CV of Com­modore Anto­nios PAPAIOANNOU 

BACKGROUND
On 11 Novem­ber 2008, the Coun­cil of the EU adopt­ed a Joint Action on an EU mil­i­tary oper­a­tion to con­tribute to the deter­rence, pre­ven­tion and repres­sion of acts of pira­cy and armed rob­bery off the Soma­li coast (EU NAVFOR Soma­lia / oper­a­tion “Ata­lan­ta”). This oper­a­tion will con­tribute to: (a) the pro­tec­tion of ves­sels of the World Food Pro­gramme deliv­er­ing food aid to dis­placed per­sons in Soma­lia, in accor­dance with the man­date laid down in UN Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil Res­o­lu­tion 1814 (2008); (b) the pro­tec­tion of vul­ner­a­ble ves­sels cruis­ing off the Soma­li coast, and the deter­rence, pre­ven­tion and repres­sion of acts of pira­cy and armed rob­bery off the Soma­li coast, in accor­dance with the man­date laid down in UN Secu­ri­ty Coun­cil Res­o­lu­tion 1816 (2008).

EU NAVFOR Soma­lia is an EU autonomous oper­a­tion con­duct­ed in the frame­work of the Euro­pean Secu­ri­ty and Defence Pol­i­cy (ESDP). It is the first naval oper­a­tion launched by the EU. Rear Admi­ral Philip JONES (UK) has been appoint­ed EU Oper­a­tion Com­man­der for the oper­a­tion. The EU Oper­a­tional Head­quar­ters is locat­ed at North­wood (UK).

CURRICULUM VITAE

Com­modore Anto­nios PAPAIOANNOU
Born in Greece in 1957, Com­modore Anto­nios PAPAIOANNOU grad­u­at­ed from Naval Acad­e­my in 1979.
He is also a grad­u­ate of Hel­lenic Navy War Col­lege (Athens) and NATO Defence Col­lege (Rome). He also holds an anti­sub­ma­rine war­fare qual­i­fi­ca­tion (USA).
His sea duty assign­ments include: 

• Exec­u­tive Offi­cer of the destroy­ers ex-KANARIS and ex-THEMISTOCLES,

• Com­mand­ing Offi­cer of the corvette ex-AGON,

• Com­mand­ing Offi­cer of the frigate SPETSE (2001–2003),

• Com­man­dant of the Sec­ond Hel­lenic Frigates Squadron Com­mand (2006–2008).

Dur­ing his ser­vice, he has been deployed in the Red Sea (oper­a­tion Desert Shield) and in the Per­sian Gulf (oper­a­tion Endur­ing Free­dom) as com­mand­ing offi­cer of frigate SPETSE.
His shore and staff assign­ments include: 

• Staff Offi­cer in the Depart­ment of Nation­al Defence Pol­i­cy (Navy Gen­er­al Staff);

• West­ern Euro­pean Union (Brus­sels)

• Chief Direc­tor of weapon branch (Fleet Command)

• Defence Attaché, Greek Embassy, Lon­don, UK.

He was pro­mot­ed to Com­modore in March 2008. Since April 2008, he is Chief Direc­tor of the Nation­al Oper­a­tions Cen­ter (Nation­al Defense Gen­er­al Staff). 

Quelle: Rat der Europäis­chen Union