The European Union will extend for two years its military mission in the Mediterranean policing the UN arms embargo on conflict-wracked Libya, senior EU officials said Wednesday.

The US Ambassador to Libya, Richard Norland, has confirmed that his country will continue to cooperate with the European Union Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya and its work in supporting Libyan law enforcement, criminal justice, and border management.

Italy submitted on Tuesday two draft memoranda to Libya, Tripoli’s Foreign Ministry reported today.

After an inspection by Greece and the European Union of a Russian cargo ship off the Libyan coast, Russia criticized the nature of the actions of operation IRNI and the reasons behind the inspection.

Operation “IRINI” launched by the European Union to monitor the arms embargo on Libya is seeking to strengthen cooperation with the EU’s border and coast guard agency (Frontex).

The EU Border Assistance Mission (EUBAM) in Libya announced last Thursday (14 January) the appointment of Natalina Cea as the new Head of Mission.

Libya’s Tripoli Ministry of Interior announced on Thursday (31 December) that its Passports Authority had signed an agreement with IBM to develop its electronic visa system.

Tunisian Prime Minister, Hichem Mechichi, affirmed Tunisia’s commitment to keeping his country’s common borders with Libya and Algeria open, whatever the circumstances.

Germany and other European nations have suspected Ankara of violating the United Nations Security Council’s arms embargo against civil-war-torn Libya. On Monday, German authorities confirmed that an attempted inspection of a Turkish-flagged cargo ship bound for the North African nation was stopped following a vocal protest by Turkish authorities.

Turkish Defense Minister Hulusi Akar told reporters at the Turkish parliament in the capital Ankara Tuesday that European Union’s Operation IRINI was stillborn, saying “it has lacked a solid basis in terms of international law since the beginning”.