BRUSSELS, (Reuters) – The European Union officially launched a naval mission in the Red Sea on Monday to “restore and preserve freedom of navigation”.
This “maritime security operation” called “Aspides” comes as the Houthis of Yemen, affiliated with Iran, have for several weeks threatened maritime traffic in the Red Sea, an essential route for world trade, by increasing attacks against ships to show their support for the Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
“The European Union is responding quickly to the need to restore maritime security and freedom of navigation in a highly strategic maritime corridor,” EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell said in a statement.
Underlining the “defensive” nature of this mission, Josep Borrell added that the objective was in particular to support and protect the ships against possible attacks in the Red Sea.
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He did not specify the material resources mobilized for this mission.
European diplomats previously told Reuters that three boats would be placed under European command as part of the EU’s common security and defense policy.
Germany has already sent a frigate this month to take part in this mission. Two diplomats told Reuters that France and Italy would also participate.
Since December, France has sent two frigates to the Red Sea, “Languedoc” and “Alsace”. (Written by Charlotte Van Campenhout and Andrew Gray, French version Bertrand Boucey)
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