EU continues working on “modalities” to contribute security in the Red Sea

He Council of the European Union (EU) will continue work on the “modalities” to contribute to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea, where attacks by the Yemen Houthi rebelswith backing from Iran, to vessels that circulate through that crucial sea route.”Work will continue in the Council regarding the modalities of the contribution of the EU and its Member States to freedom of navigation in the Red Sea”, community sources indicated.

On December 20, ambassadors of the Twenty-Seven, meeting in an extraordinary manner in the Political and Security Committee of the Council of the EU, agreed to contribute, through the EU Navfor Atalanta community mission, to the US operation. “Guardian of Prosperity”, promoted to safeguard security in the Red Sea.

This was reported by the high representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, through his profile on the social network “demonstrates the EU’s role as a maritime security provider.”

However, on Saturday Spain made it clear that what it defends is the creation of a specific mission in the Red Sea with “scope, means and own objectives” to protect commercial shipping from attacks by Houthisinstead of acting through the Atalanta mission, promoted by the EU in 2008 to combat piracy in the waters of the Indian Ocean off the coast of Somalia.

In a press release, the Spanish Ministry of Defense defended that ““To have the maximum effectiveness that should be aspired to in the Red Sea, it is essential to create a new and specific mission, with its own scope, means and objectives, agreed upon by the corresponding EU bodies,” instead of proceeding with an extension of Atalanta.

In parallel, Ministry sources confirmed that Spain will not ultimately participate in the international mission in the Red Sea. Meanwhile, attacks on ships in that area continue.

Naval Central Command USA reported this Sunday the firing of two anti-ship missiles towards maritime trade routes in the southern Red Sea from areas controlled by the Houthis in Yemen, as well as drone attacks on oil tankers and military ships that resulted in no material or personal damage.

The Houthis, backed by Iran, have launched several volleys of missiles and drones against southern Israel in these last two and a half months, in response to the Israeli invasion of Gaza.

They also announced that they would attack ships flying the flag of the Jewish State, owned by Israeli companies or destined for Israel in the Bab al Mandeb Strait, which caused large shipping companies to suspend their operations in that sea lane.