Page 71 - Le Operazioni Interforze e Multinazionali nella Storia Militare - ACTA Tomo II

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Air Force did not test the no-flight ban again.
On 17 April 1993, the embargo was further tightened with the passing of UN Secu-
rity Council Resolution No. 820 which gave the MARITIME GUARD units the right to
operate in Yugoslavian territorial waters should it become necessary in order to enforce
the embargo. At the same time, an agreement was made with the Albanian government
allowing NATO units to operate in Albanian waters.
Following the adoption of Resolution No. 820, on 8 June 1993 NATO and the WEU
decided to merge operations MARITIME GUARD and SHARP FENCE into one joint
operation under the name SHARP GUARD. This operation was launched on 15 June
1993 where an impressive naval force consisting of 21 STANAVFORMED units, seven
STANAVFORLANT units and six WEU units sailed into the Adriatic Sea together.
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) handed over the day-to-day
operational control of SHARP GUARD to Italian Admiral Mario Angeli, the then Com-
mander Allied Naval Forces Southern Europe (COMNAVSOUTH) and as such head of
NATO Task Force 440. During Operation SHARP GUARD, a number of officers from
the WEU were assigned to the admiral’s staff which was headquartered in Naples.
The SHARP GUARD units were split into three so-called Combined Task Groups
(CTGs): a northern group, CTG 440.01, usually consisting of four ships, a southern
group in the Otranto Strait, CTG 440.02, usually consisting of three ships, and CTG
440.03 which was a “harbor” group consisting of ships that were not on patrol but in
Italian ports for R & R (Rest and Recreation) or at sea for exercise activities, naval visits
or similar. The units normally rotated, with approx. ten patrol days at sea in groups one
and two and then up to a week in group three engaging in the exercises necessary to keep
the equipment working and the crew well-trained.
While the first two Task Groups were under the command of the STANAVFOR-
LANT Commander and the STANAVFORMED Commander respectively, TG 440.03
came under the operational control of the WEU CONTINGENCY MARITIME FORCE
(COMWEUCONMARFOR) .
5
Last, but not least, Admiral Angeli had at his disposal a number Maritime Patrol Air-
craft (MPA) based on Sicily and several Tornado type fighter bombers from the Italian
air force base at Gioia del Colle.
It was also necessary to block access to the former Yugoslavian republics via the
Danube river to complete the blockade and in order to reach this goal, the U.S. govern-
ment among others allocated $1.45 million to strengthening border control activities to-
wards Serbia and acquired five small patrol boats for Romania and Bulgaria. The WEU
also contributed an unknown amount to that end but it was insufficient to completely
seal off the Danube and large amounts of oil reached the Serbs exploiting this gap in the
embargo.

5 For Denmark, joining the WEU mission was at first a problem in that on 2 June 1992, the Danish voters had
voted No to the EC Maastricht Treaty and its provision stating that the WEU was to be the military arm of
the EU. Thus, Danish warships under WEU control could be seen as going against the voters’ decision. The
problem was, solved, however, by placing the WEU forces under NATO command.