The European Union has said it cannot be counted on to respond nor can it be held responsible for ship hijackings outside the defined EU NAVFOR area of operations in the waters off Somalia. In a statement from the Council of Ministers regarding the hijacking of the stone-dumping vessel Pompei outside the protected zone earlier this year, the Council said: "The criteria applied when deciding whether to accept a request for protection are the vulnerability of the commercial vessels and the availability of combat vessels in the area concerned, bearing in mind the priorities laid down by the council and within the geographical limits set by the council. Pompei was not in the European naval force’s area of operations. The EU cannot be held responsible for events which take place outside the area of operations defined by the EU."