German military to expand fight against pirates

As many as 1,400 German soldiers could be sent on a mission to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia.

The state secretaries of the German defense ministry and foreign ministry yesterday negotiated the terms of German engagement in the ‘Atalanta’ mission of the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) in Berlin.

It remains unclear whether Angela Merkel’s cabinet will approve the mandate on the 3rd or 10th of December.

According to information obtained by Die Welt, the Foreign Office is pushing for the earlier date, while the Ministry of Defense prefers to wait a week for the details of the mission to be clarified in Brussels.

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