EU faces warship shortage for Somali piracy mission

The European Union is short of warships for its counter-piracy mission off Somalia and is unlikely the fill the gap until March given economic constraints, the top EU military officer said on Tuesday.

Swedish General Hakan Syren, chairman of the EU Military Committee, said the shortage would be a "problem", without going into further details.

An EU military official later played down the challenge, saying the shortfall would coincide with a period when pirate attacks normally declined and the bloc would be able to sustain the mission.

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