European Parliament wants to supply Ukraine with almost 150 armoured vehicles confiscated by EU

Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis has suggested supplying Ukraine with tens of armoured military vehicles confiscated during attempts to illegally import them to Libya.

Source: European Pravda with reference to material from RTL Nieuws

At the end of 2022 the EU military mission IRINI, the aim of which is to prevent the violations of the UN embargo on armament supply to Libya, took hold of the Dutch cargo vessel MV Meerdijk near the coast of South Africa.

The vessel was carrying 41 BATT UMG armoured all-terrain vehicles from a plant in the United Arab Emirates to Bengasi, a coastal Libyan city controlled by the forces of General Khalifa Khaftar who is not recognised by the international community.

The cargo was seized and put into storage near the French city of Marseilles. At least 146 military vehicles sent to Libya despite the UN sanctions are stored there.

Groothuis believes that the EU must hand this equipment over to Ukraine. He is backed by several influential MEPs, including Guy Verhofstadt.

"The confiscated vehicles are a big success for the IRINI mission. It would be only fair and necessary that we hand this equipment over to Ukraine as soon as possible. The war in Ukraine is turning into a war of attrition, and the supply of almost 150 vehicles would be a very clear signal to Russia that Europe wants to fight until the end," the MEP explained.

An IRINI spokesperson confirmed to RTL Nieuws that the supply of the seized vehicles to Ukraine is legally possible, and the final decision should be made by the European Council.

Background: At the beginning of October the US supplied the Armed Forces of Ukraine with cartridges of Iranian origin confiscated during an attempted smuggling operation to Yemen.

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