The European Union’s Mediterranean naval operation now has a mandate that runs to March 31, 2029, and a longer task list than it had before. The Council of the EU renewed EUNAVFOR MED IRINI and added work aimed at Russia’s shadow fleet and at protecting critical maritime infrastructure.
IRINI was built to watch for arms headed to Libya. The renewal keeps that job and points the same ships, aircraft and surveillance at a wider set of problems at sea.
The operation announced the decision in an Oct. 13, 2026 post on its official website. “The Council of the European Union has renewed the mandate of EUNAVFOR MED IRINI until 31 March 2029,” it says. The legal act is Council Decision (CFSP) 2026/2243 of 9 October 2026, which amends the 2020 decision that set up the operation, according to its title on EUR-Lex.
Three new tasks
The operation’s post lists three new responsibilities, quoted here as written:
- “Contributing to efforts to constrain the Russian shadow fleet”
- “Strengthening EU and Member States’ maritime domain awareness”
- “Supporting the protection of critical maritime infrastructure”
The same post says “The renewed mandate expands Operation IRINI’s political objectives” to include “safeguarding the European Union’s interests in the Mediterranean.” It describes three strategic roles: safeguarding those interests “through credible protection and deterrence,” contributing to United Nations Security Council resolutions in support of peace and stability in Libya, and building Mediterranean partnerships through training and capacity building.
The infrastructure work builds on an earlier step. When the Council last extended IRINI, in a March 11, 2025 press release, it added a task covering illicit activities beyond arms trafficking, including illicit petroleum exports from Libya, along with information gathering to help protect critical maritime infrastructure. The operation’s 2026 post now lists supporting the protection of that infrastructure among its new responsibilities.
How the boardings work
The operation’s post ties the new tasks to tools IRINI already has. “IRINI’s naval presence and surveillance capabilities make it well placed to monitor these activities,” it says, and where applicable that includes “flag verification boardings conducted in accordance with Article 110 of UNCLOS,” the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Those boardings have been rare so far. IRINI’s monthly figures, published by the EU’s External Action Service in its activity report for May 2026, list one flag verification boarding in May and one since the operation began, as of June 1, 2026. A footnote in that report says these boardings “are carried out under the Article 110 – right of visit- of UNCLOS.”
The same report gives IRINI’s running totals since launch. The operation has “boarded and inspected 33 suspect vessels and on 3 occasions seized the cargos,” investigated 24,007 merchant vessels through radio hailings, visited 800 vessels with their masters’ consent, investigated 2,747 suspect flights and sent 92 special reports to the EEAS or the UN Panel of Experts on Libya, according to the report.
Libya stays at the center
The new tasks do not replace the original one. “Exposing violations of UN arms embargo on Libya, as well as illicit oil smuggling, remains at the heart of its mandate,” the operation’s post says.
That mission dates to the operation’s start. The Council’s 2025 release says IRINI was “launched on 31 March 2020” to help enforce the UN arms embargo on Libya using aerial, satellite and maritime assets, and that “its headquarters are located in Rome, Italy.” The release notes that IRINI is Greek for “peace” and named Rear Adm. Valentino Rinaldi as the EU operation commander at the time. It set a reference amount of €16,350,000 for common costs from April 1, 2025, to March 31, 2027.
The renewal pushes that end date back two years. “Operation IRINI also remains ready to scale up and respond to contingencies as the maritime security environment evolves,” the operation’s post says. Its mandate now runs to March 31, 2029.
Top image: A French Navy ship on Operation IRINI, May 2025. Image Credit: Armée française — Licence Ouverte / Wikimedia Commons