Seychelles-EU Navfor cooperation exemplary, says President Michel |23 February 2012

President Michel has expressed his appreciation of the role of the EU naval forces in preventing piracy attacks in the Indian Ocean as well as assisting merchant ships in adopting measures of best practice for protection against attacks.

“The EU naval forces are successfully disrupting a large number of piracy attacks. This is highly commendable and has benefited Seychelles greatly, as we are on the forefront of the fight against piracy. Our military cooperation with the EU forces has been exemplary as many of the Seychelles successful anti-piracy missions have been joint operations with EU Navfor. We are grateful for this assistance and count on the continued support of our partners,” said President Michel.

During the visit to the Northwood headquarters the President was updated on the EU Navfor mission and counter-piracy as part of the preparations for the Somalia conference which starts today.

As part of the briefing, Rear Admiral Potts commented: “The briefing and discussion today has been an excellent opportunity for me to actively engage with the countries which border the area of operations to ensure that there is a common understanding of the issues as we develop our tactics to better tackle the problem of piracy at sea.”

The President was accompanied on the visit by the Minister for Home Affairs, Environment, Transport and Energy, Joel Morgan; the vice-chancellor of the University of Seychelles, Dr Rolph Payet; as well as the British high commissioner to Seychelles, Matthew Forbes.

The Ugandan Minister of Defence, the Hon Crispus Kiyonga and Commander Land Forces Lt. Gen. Katuma Wamala, as well as the Tanzanian Head of Intelligence, Maj. Gen. Paul Mella also took part in the visit.