EUNAVFOR’s Potts: Put pressure on the pirates everywhere (Audio)

British Rear Admiral Duncan Potts, operations commander of EUNAVFOR, the European Union’s anti-piracy operation Atalanta off Somalia, was in Berlin today to brief members of the German parliament on the planned expansion of the Atalanta mandate: as decided by EU defense and foreign ministers last week, EUNAVFOR’s warships will soon have permission to attack the pirates‘ logistics ashore in Somalia.

Germany is one – and not the only – country weary of this expansion, so Potts had a tough job convincing the parlamentarians that Atalanta needs this expanded mandate. Main reason, the Admiral told lawmakers, is to put pressure on the pirates not only at sea, but also where they have their lairs and logistics – in order to make their business model less profitable.

After the briefing, I had the opportunity to ask Potts some questions; here’s the audio:

(Note to my German readers: German version to follow)