Pedro Sánchez emphasizes that Spain will not participate in a mission in the Red Sea if it is not with NATO or the EU

The Government remains firm in its rejection of Operation Atalanta, created in 2008 to fight against piracy off the coast of Somalia, being expanded with the United States plans to protect ships sailing through the Red Sea against attacks. of Yemen's Huthi militia, in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza and the West Bank. “Spain is not opposed to creating another operation, in this case in the Red Sea, what we have talked about with our allies, both in NATO and in the European Union, is that we consider that Operation Atalanta does not have the characteristics nor the nature that is demanded and needed in the Red Sea,” Pedro Sánchez clarified. The president has shown himself “open and willing”, without going into details, to participate in a specific NATO mission in the Red Sea.

Sánchez has insisted that Atalanta's mission “is to fight against a particular phenomenon, piracy”, in the Indian Ocean, which “has nothing to do” with the crisis in the Red Sea, a strategic route through which it circulates in around 10% of world trade and where the pro-Iran Huthi militia has demonstrated its ability to put maritime traffic at risk in the Bab el Mandeb Strait, which separates East Africa from the Arabian Peninsula off the coast of Yemen. The alternative is to sail around the Cape of Good Hope, at the southern tip of Africa, which lengthens the journey by several weeks.

“The situation is completely different. The risk is different and the challenge is complex,” repeated Sánchez, who wanted to leave Spain's involvement in peace missions under the EU or NATO flag beyond all doubt. The president has stressed – before precisely starting a visit to Iraq to recognize the work of the Spanish troops deployed abroad – that Spain “is, within the EU, the country that participates in the most military peace missions within the framework of NATO.”

“We have more than 3,000 soldiers deployed in different operations, Spain's commitment to NATO and the EU is absolute, but we understand that the framework of Operation Atalanta and the Red Sea is not the same. If you want to launch that operation, it will be fine,” he emphasized in his year-end balance sheet. Spain has a fundamental role in Operation Atalanta, since its headquarters is at the Rota base (Cádiz) and its manager is the Spanish vice-admiral Ignacio Villanueva Sánchez. The Spanish frigate Victory It is, furthermore, the only one it has. It does not even have a maritime patrol plane, since its deployment in the area is conditioned by the monsoon season.

The Ministry of Defense made Spain's position clear on December 23, in a statement in which it requested the creation of a specific mission for the Red Sea in response to the Houthi attacks, with “own” objectives and agreed upon by the Union. European, outside of Operation Atalanta. Defense has denied that the Government has vetoed the deployment in the Red Sea and insists that Spain “is, and will always be, a serious and reliable ally committed to the EU, NATO and the United Nations” and that, therefore, its commitment to Peace “is total and absolute.”

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But the ministry headed by Margarita Robles defends that “to have the maximum effectiveness that should be aspired to in the Red Sea, a new and specific mission is essential, with its own scope, means and objectives, agreed upon by the corresponding EU bodies.” “Any mission in the Red Sea, to guarantee maritime security, has to be specific, with its own entity in which the naval forces of the European countries that wish to participate participate and not a mere extension of Operation Atalanta,” Defense settled.

The military operation promoted by the United States to guarantee free navigation through the Red Sea has caused unexpected tension between Madrid and Washington. The Government was displeased when the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, last week and without prior notice included Spain among the 10 countries that were going to participate in Operation Guardian of Prosperity, promoted by Washington. The Government spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, publicly denied this, when she assured that Spain would not participate “unilaterally” in the coalition. Defense made it clear that it could do so, but “within the framework of NATO or the European Union.”

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