EU launches mission to protect cruises in the Red Sea

After two months of negotiations between member states, the European Union has announced on Monday February 19 its naval operation in the Red Sea, with the aim of securing maritime transport on this important sea route for international trade. In recent weeks, the Houthi rebels of Yemen have increased their attacks in the region, causing a decrease in the activities of the Suez Canal; but concessions had to be made to Spain. The European naval mission in the Red Sea is called Aspidès, ‘shield’ in ancient Greek. This is a direct reference to the fact that this mission will be ‘defensive’. The European Aspidès operation, for example, will not be able to carry out attacks against ground installations, unlike the American operation. It will be based on the principle of self-defense: not only for the operational European warships, but also for the merchant ships that should be protected.

‘Europe will ensure freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, in coordination with our partners internationally,’ wrote the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, on the X social network.

Therefore, there will be coordination with the ‘Guardian of Prosperity’ operation, but together with Aspidès, the EU countries have wanted to show to the Arab countries that they were not committed to the side of Washington, whose diplomatic position is seen as supporting Israel.

This was a request mainly from Spain. Madrid refused to extend the Atalanta naval operation to the Red Sea, organized against piracy in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean. The far-left political party (Sumar), which is in the government coalition, saw this as solidarity with US foreign policy. and a Belgian ship. The overall command will be ensured by Italy, and the operational command at sea by Greece. Planned for a year and possibly renewed, the mission should not be fully operational for ‘a few weeks’, when it will have sufficient resources, according to a European diplomat.

The Houthis attack again on Monday

Since January, the United States and the United Kingdom have been carrying out repeated attacks against Houthi fighters in Yemen without success in stopping their attacks, with the latest attacks reported on Saturday.

Again, on Monday, new attacks were reported against ships in that area. Iran-backed Houthi rebels have targeted a ‘British ship in the Gulf of Aden, the RUBYMAR, with naval missiles,’ according to a statement from Houthi military spokesman Yahya Saree. The Houthis also said they shot down a US MQ-9 jet, a claim to which Washington has yet to respond. According to the maritime security company Ambrey, the ship was heading north from the United Arab Emirates and would make its final stop in the Bulgarian city of Varna.