HR/VP Josep Borrell announced the start of a new military operation in the Mediterranean after the last meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council (FAC) on 17 February. The new mission will be launched on 31 March and will replace current Operation Sophia, which has been in place since May 2015. The main objective of the new operation will be the enforcement of the arms embargo imposed on Libya by the United Nations Security Council, which has been systematically violated according to the UN. While Operation Sophia was covering the whole Libyan coast, the new operation will only focus on the Eastern part of it and will include aerial, satellite and maritime assets. It will also continue the training and support of the Libyan Coast Guard and the fighting against smuggling and human trafficking networks. Further, the foreign ministers addressed the Strategy for Africa and noted that, ahead of the EU-African Union Summit to be held next October, the EU will collaborate with its African partners in order to identify their main priorities and create a strategy “not about Africa, but a strategy for Africa together with Africa”. The ministers also exchanged views on the recently announced US Middle East Peace Plan even if the issue was not on the agenda of the meeting. They will further discuss it in the next FAC, scheduled for 12 March, right after the Israeli elections.