Spain emphasizes that it will not participate in the US operation in the Red Sea and proposes a "specific" European mission

MADRID, 23 Dic. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Ministry of Defense stressed this Saturday that it will not participate in the operation launched by the United States to guarantee the safety of maritime traffic in the Red Sea and has proposed the creation of a "new and specific" European mission to achieve "maximum effectiveness" in this objective.

The department led by Margarita Robles has thus insisted on the position it had already expressed last Tuesday about not intervening in the 'Guardian of Prosperity' operation, announced by the United States in response to the attacks by Houthi rebels on ships transiting in the Red Sea.

Furthermore, Defense has assured, in a statement, that there is no Spanish veto on an EU mission in the Red Sea, all of this after Spain blocked the EU's decision to modify the mandate of the naval operation 'Atalanta'. ' to contribute to the mission launched by the United States.

"Spain is and will always be a serious and reliable ally, committed to the EU, NATO and the UN (...). The commitment of Spain and its Armed Forces to peace is total and absolute," he guaranteed in this regard.

Within the framework of this commitment, he has stressed that any mission with the objective of guaranteeing maritime security in the Red Sea, "has to be a specific mission with its own entity in which the Naval Forces of the European countries that wish to do so participate and "not a mere extension of operation 'Atalanta'."

In this sense, he recalled that 'Atalanta' is an operation against piracy in the Indian Ocean led and participated only by Spain and that the frigate Victoria is the one that is acting in this mission.

For this reason, he considers it "obvious" that "the nature and objectives of the 'Atalanta' mission against piracy in the Indian Ocean have nothing to do with those intended to be achieved in the Red Sea."

"That is why Spain wants to preserve the 'Atalanta' operation, with the current objectives, extension and scope when it is confirmed that the fight against piracy in the Indian Ocean, as is being seen in recent days with two pirated ships in very short period of time, requires maximum dedication," he explained.

In this way, he has 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 organizations." of the EU". "A creation that Spain is in no way opposed to," he declared.