European Parliament plans to transfer 150 confiscated armored vehicles to Ukraine
25 October, 2023 Confiscated BATT UMG armored vehicles. Photo credits: rtlnieuws.nl The possibility of transferring confiscated armored vehicles to Ukraine is being discussed in the European Parliament.
The idea was proposed by Dutch MEP Bart Groothuis. At the end of 2022, the EU military mission IRINI, designed to prevent violations of the UN arms embargo on Libya, intercepted the cargo ship MV Meerdijk off the coast of South Africa. The ship was transporting 41 BATT UMG armored off-road vehicles from a factory in the United Arab Emirates to Benghazi, a coastal Libyan city controlled by the forces of General Khalifa Haftar, who is not recognized by the international community.
The cargo was seized and transferred to a warehouse near Marseille, France.
Confiscated BATT UMG armored vehicles. Photo credits: rtlnieuws.nl
In total, at least 146 military vehicles were stored there, which were headed to Libya in violation of UN sanctions.
Groothuis believes that the EU should transfer these armored vehicles to Ukraine. He is supported by several influential MEPs, including Guy Verhofstadt. "The confiscated vehicles are a great success for the IRINI mission, and it is only fair and necessary that we hand over this equipment to Ukraine as soon as possible.
The war in Ukraine is turning into a war of attrition, and the transfer of almost 150 vehicles will send a very clear signal to Russia that Europe wants to go all the way," said the MEP. An IRINI spokesperson confirmed to RTL Nieuws that the transfer of the seized vehicles to Ukraine is legally possible, and the final decision on this is to be made by the European Council. In particular, it regards a batch of 41 BATT UMG armored vehicles manufactured in the UAE, which the MV Meerdijk tried to deliver to Libya in October 2022.
It is worth noting that BATT UMG armored vehicles are already in service with the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
BATT UMG armored vehicle of the Ukrainian military. January 2023.
Ukraine.
Photo credits: t.me/firstdivisionofficial
Last June, it was reported that the U.S. company The Armored Group had received an order for approximately £23.2 million.
The order included 100 BATT UMG vehicles to be delivered to an unnamed Eastern European country.