A Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands, Bart Groothuis, has proposed transferring dozens of armored vehicles confiscated during attempts to illegally import them into Libya to Ukraine.
This information comes from an RTL Nieuws.
At the end of the previous year, the EU military mission IRINI, which is aimed at preventing violations of the UN embargo on arms supplies to Libya, intercepted a Dutch cargo ship, MV Meerdijk, off the coast of South Africa.
The ship was transporting 41 armored all-terrain vehicles of the BATT UMG type from a factory in the United Arab Emirates to Benghazi, a coastal city in Libya controlled by forces led by General Khalifa Haftar, which are not internationally recognized.
The cargo was seized and placed in storage near the French port of Marseille. In total, at least 146 military vehicles destined for Libya in violation of UN sanctions are stored there.
Groothuis believes that the European Union should transfer this armored equipment to Ukraine, a view supported by several influential Members of the European Parliament, including Guy Verhofstadt.
"The confiscated vehicles are a significant asset for the IRINI mission, and it is fair and necessary for us to transfer this equipment to Ukraine as quickly as possible. The conflict in Ukraine is turning into a war of attrition, and transferring nearly 150 vehicles would be a very clear signal to Russia that Europe is committed to seeing this through," the MEP stated.
An IRINI spokesperson confirmed to RTL Nieuws that the legal transfer of the seized vehicles to Ukraine is feasible, and the final decision on this matter must be made by the European Council.
