The military operation promoted by the United States to protect ships sailing through the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels, allies of Iran, has caused unexpected tension between Madrid and Washington. The Spanish Government was displeased when the head of the Pentagon, Lloyd Austin, included Spain last Monday without prior notice among the 10 countries that were going to participate in Operation Guardian of Prosperity, commanded by the United States. The Government's own spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, had to publicly deny it, assuring that Spain would not participate “unilaterally” in the coalition, although the Ministry of Defense made it clear that it could do so “within the framework of NATO or the European Union.” ”.
The path seemed to clear the next day when, at an extraordinary meeting of the European Political and Security Committee (CPS), at ambassadorial level, it was agreed that the EU would participate in surveillance in the Red Sea through Operation Atalanta, which It has been dedicated since 2008 to the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean. The EU High Commissioner, Josep Borrell, announced the decision and assured that the exchange of information with the United States would be intensified and the European naval presence would be reinforced with additional means. “This demonstrates the EU's role as a maritime security provider. We accompany our words with actions,” he concluded. However, the next day, in a technical meeting, Spain vetoed the change in the mandate of Operation Atalanta to include navigation safety in the Red Sea, according to what was announced. The confidential.
The decision caused surprise in diplomatic circles, since the Spanish Government has not given any public explanation. According to diplomatic sources, this sudden turn was behind the conversation that the president of the United States, Joe Biden, had on Friday with the head of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, the first after the latter's re-election. Although La Moncloa did not make any reference to the issue in its statement, the White House did assure that both leaders had highlighted the need for the Gaza conflict not to spread throughout the region and had condemned “the continuous Houthi attacks against ships at sea.” Rojo”, committing to maintain cooperation between their respective countries.
That same Friday, after meeting with Pedro Sánchez in Congress, the leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, revealed that he had told him that “the Spanish decision at the moment is not to intervene; or, at least, not intervene in the conditions requested by the United States.” On Thursday, in statements to SER, the second vice president of the Government, Yolanda Díaz, had described as “enormously hypocritical” the speed of the international community to protect commercial interests in the Red Sea and the passivity when it comes to defending the population. Gaza civilian. The Houthis claim that they only attack ships heading to Israel, but in practice they have made any ship that has passed through Israeli ports or that is linked to that country a target, which threatens navigation along a route through which which circulates around 10% of world trade.
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. At this moment, in addition, the Spanish frigate Victory It is the only ship that the European operation has, after the withdrawal of the Italian frigate. It does not even have a maritime patrol plane, since its deployment in the area is conditioned by the monsoon season.
Military sources point out that, with the means that Operation Atalanta now has, it is impossible to assume new tasks, especially because, after three years of inactivity, there has been a reactivation of attacks by Somali pirates, with two kidnappings ( an Iranian fishing vessel and a Bulgarian freighter) in recent weeks. Yes, it would be possible, they clarify, if their resources were significantly reinforced and an operations plan was approved. The narrow width of the Red Sea means that the reaction time to an attack from the Yemeni coast is very short, forcing the escorts to sail close to the protected ships and always within the range of their weapons. The drones with which most attacks have been carried out are slow, but they raise the dilemma of whether it is worth spending expensive missiles to shoot them down. Furthermore, from a political point of view, a conflict with the Houthis is a proxy conflict with Iran.
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