For almost two decades, anarchy has reigned in Somalia. Its UN-backed transitional federal government faces severe threats from radical armed Islamist opponents. It is a potential hot-bed for terrorism. Poverty, lawlessness in the region and the huge profits to be made from piracy have driven many local groups into the business of kidnapping and armed robbery on the high seas. The pirates are strongly equipped with fast boats and modern weapons.

Acts of piracy off the Horn of Africa, in a vast sea area the size of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea combined, have been rampant over the last three years.

Ships have been seized and seamen have been kidnapped. In the face of this threat, the need for coordinated international action by naval forces, backed up by military and air forces, to help "to deter, prevent and repress acts of piracy and armed robbery off the Horn of Africa" has been identified by the EU.

This is the mission of Operation Atalanta, the EU naval force for Somalia which has been established since December 2008. It consists of some 20 vessels and aircraft and about 1,800 soldiers, deployed in the Gulf of Aden and off the Somali coast. The Netherlands, Germany, Spain, France, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Belgium and Luxembourg have all committed forces to it.

Malta, too, joined Operation Atalanta. Twelve soldiers of the Armed Forces of Malta, who served in a Dutch warship on anti-piracy duties off the Somali coast for the last few weeks, have just returned after a most successful mission where they saw live action. The participation of AFM personnel in EU military missions is not new but this has been the first time since joining that Malta has deployed personnel in any significant numbers as a formed sub-unit on a potentially dangerous operation.

For the AFM, and for Malta, participating in Operation Atalanta has been a matter of great pride. The military skills and experience the AFM's soldiers have derived will be invaluable. It is also a great compliment to the quality of Malta's armed forces that the Dutch have been content to base them in one of their ships to fulfil this demanding military role and have been fulsome in their praise of the troops.

More importantly, however, the AFM's participation should be seen as a crucial first step by Malta in showing that the country is not just a "taker" of EU benefits but is also prepared to play its own part, within its inevitably limited resources, in giving something back. This is crucial to Malta's argument on burden-sharing in the EU on illegal immigration, a subject on which Malta has long felt hard done by. It should strengthen the government's negotiating hand considerably to stand up and show that, despite the islands' limited size, Malta is prepared to contribute to an EU international military mission, when many other larger countries are not doing so. If Malta is prepared to share this burden, why cannot others share the immigration burden?

While there can be no doubt that AFM soldiers in Somalia have been serving in a perilous operational environment, the diplomatic and other advantages to Malta's interests of contributing to this important mission have been fully justified.