September 10, 2015 – From September 17, Italy takes the lead of the European Maritime Force (Euromarfor). Next Thursday, at noon, the Garibaldi ship moored at the Naval Station Great Sea of Taranto, will host the ceremony that sees Admiral Francisco Javier Franco Suanzes of the Spanish Navy cede in favor of Team Admiral Filippo Maria Foffi. The Euromarfor was officially founded in 1995 when France, Italy, Portugal and Spain decided to create a special force capable of performing mainly the missions defined in the “Petersberg Declaration”, such as: maritime surveillance missions, humanitarian and evacuation missions, peacekeeping operations, crisis management operations (maritime patrol, mining, etc.) and peace missions strengthening. The Euromarfor can also be used within NATO or under the mandate of other international organizations, such as the UN, OSCE or other multinational coalitions. (Red)