EU expands naval plan to stop “shadow fleet” vessels in Mediterranean

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative file photo — Croatian Zapovjedništvo Specialjalnih Snaga (ZSS) ride alongside members of U.S. Naval Special Warfare Task Unit Europe (NSWTU-E) in rigid inflatable boats (RIB) for transportation to a DA (Direct Action) site during Exercise Trojan Footprint 22 in Split, Croatia, April 6, 2022. (U.S. Army Photo by Chief Warrant Officer Patrik Orcutt via U.S. Defense Visual Information Distribution Service (DVIDS))

MOSCOW  -  Russia on Wednesday condemned an EU decision to authorise EU military vessels in the Mediterranean to stop and inspect foreign ships suspected of being part of a "shadow fleet" transporting Russian oil, and said it would take all necessary legal and other measures to protect them.

The EU said on Monday it had expanded the mandate of Operation IRINI, its naval mission in the Mediterranean that was originally set up to enforce a U.N. arms embargo on Libya.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said this posed a threat to maritime security and accused the EU of intimidating civilian vessels.

She said there was no such thing in international law as a "shadow fleet", and this term was a "political fabrication" by the EU.

"The European Union's deployment of ships from the IRINI naval operation deployed in the Mediterranean to inspect or seize, as they now say, vessels carrying oil products would constitute a flagrant violation of international law," Zakharova told a press briefing.

"We reserve the right to use the full arsenal of political, legal, and other instruments at our disposal to protect maritime security and the legitimate interests of shippers and shipowners."

 (Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Editing by Mark Trevelyan // REUTERS)