Rear Admiral Jan Thörnqvist of Sweden has been appointed the new EU force commander of EUNAVFOR Somalia.

Thörnqvist has taken the command of European Naval Force from the Italian Rear Admiral Giovanni Gumiero.

The change of force command occurs every four months in the region.

EU member states including Netherlands, Spain, Germany, France, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Belgium, Luxembourg and Portugal are making a permanent operational contribution to the EUNAVFOR-ATLANTA operation.

Others involved in the EUNAVFOR operation include US-led coalition CTF-151, Nato, Russian, Indian, Japanese, Malaysian and Chinese vessels.

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EUNAVFOR-ATLANTA is part of the global action conducted by the EU in the Horn of Africa to deal with the Somali crisis.