Brussels 31.01.2024 “…We discussed two regions of common interest: the Red Sea and the Sahel. We did that in presence of our partners from the United Nations, NATO and also invited the European Parliament” said the EU High Representative Josep Borrell, after the Informal Defence Ministers meeting.

“You know that the maritime security in the Red Sea has significantly deteriorated over the last weeks.

“We are very much advancing the work of a new maritime operation – it will be called ASPIDES, named after the Ancient Greek word for “shield”. It is a shield in order to act in purely defensive mode to protect merchant vessels, and two non-executive tasks of “accompanying” to deter with [its] presence and to strengthen maritime situational awareness.

“It will be deployed at sea, with ships and air assets, proportional to the threat we are facing. This mission ASPIDES will not conduct any operation on land – only at sea, in a purely defensive mode.

“Our goal is to establish and launch this mission ASPIDES, at the latest on the 19th of February. I hope and I am sure it will [be]. We will. Member States are strongly committed to that. Not of all of them will participate but no one is going to obstruct it”.

Houthi forces in Yemen have launched a series of drone and missile attacks towards Israel and have targeted commercial and military vessels in Red sea in response to Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza. In December, the United States announced the formation of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an international military coalition aiming to protect the Red Sea from Houthi attacks, and since January 12, the United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets inside Yemen.

Houthi fighters declared that navigation in the Red Sea would remain secure for all international merchant vessels, except those related to Israel. They described their targeting of Israeli ships as a legitimate act rooted in their humanitarian, Arab, and Islamic solidarity toward Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, who have suffered relentless aggression for over a hundred days.