The United States remains firm so that Spain and its Navy are part of the naval mission in the Red Sea, contain the armed escalation of the Houthi rebels in Yemen and ensure navigation in a strategic area for global maritime trade. This Tuesday, the Pentagon released the telephone conversation that the chiefs of the Defense Staff of both countries had so that the Government of Pedro Sánchez could change its initial refusal regarding the operation in the waters of the Indian Ocean, called Guardian Protector.
US General Charles Brown spoke on Monday with Spanish Admiral Teodoro López Calderón and, among several agenda items, they debated the Spanish position on the situation in the Red Sea, according to the statement published by the spokesman for the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Captain Jereal Dorsey. . “Spain is a faithful and loyal ally in NATO and I am grateful for the long-standing and strategic defense relations between our two countries,” Brown wrote on his profile on the social network inform of telephone contact.
The call, the first between the two after the appointment of General Brown last October, allowed them to discuss “strategic security cooperation, the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the security environment in Europe and the Middle East,” according to spokesman Dorsey. The captain also mentioned that military commanders spoke “about ongoing illegal Houthi attacks on commercial vessels operating in international waters in the Red Sea” and “the desire of the United States to work with all countries that share an interest in maintaining the principle of freedom of navigation and guarantee the safe passage of global shipping.
Asked about this conversation, the ministry headed by Margarita Robles confirmed it and only limited itself to pointing out that it served to highlight “the magnificent relations with Spain.” Nothing else. But Defense sources reiterated that there is no change in position and referred to the minister's words last week. He maintained that the mission proposed by the United States “is not defined” at the moment and that the Navy conditions its presence on the position of the multilateral organizations of which it is a part: the European Union, above all, and NATO.
«Spain has never been afraid to participate in any mission, but precisely because it has rigor, because it has seriousness, because it has professionalism, what it wants is for the missions to be defined and for no country, whatever this country may be, to tell Spain what it has to do,” Robles stressed during a visit to Córdoba, thus referring to the fact that it was the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, who announced that our country would participate along with a dozen allies without first having the Government of Sanchez.
Atalanta and the national interest
The matter was also discussed during the phone call between the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez, and the US President, Joe Biden, on December 22, according to the note published by the White House, although Moncloa did not make reference to this issue. . According to the US version, both addressed the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas and “underlined the importance of ensuring that it does not spread in the region, including condemning ongoing attacks by the Houthis against commercial ships in the Red Sea.” ».
But what is really behind the Spanish refusal? As this newspaper announced according to sources from the Defense Staff, Spain is already part of the EU mission in the Gulf of Aden, called Atalanta, with a war frigate, which fights against Somali piracy and defends strategic interests. of the national fishing industry in the Indian Ocean (Basque and Galician tuna vessels, fundamentally).
Among its current tasks is already monitoring the waters of the Red Sea, so any presence now in the naval mission sponsored by the United States would only be possible if the EU agrees to not only maintain but reinforce Atalanta with another frigate from another community country. A circumstance that is not on the table for now, as confirmed by the Spanish military representation in Brussels. Therefore, the Government prefers to maintain its position of strength in Atalanta, where it is the main contributor and also provides an aerial surveillance mission.
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