EU's Aspides Mission in Red Sea Needs More Than 10 Warships

The European Union (EU) naval mission to protect navigation in the Red Sea would need to increase its forces to more than 10 warships, according to Kaja Kallas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

The EU's Aspides mission was launched in 2024 to protect maritime traffic from attacks by Yemen's Houthis – aligned with Iran – and, according to diplomats, there are currently six warships operating.

"When Aspides was launched, the indication was that it needed at least 10 ships. The situation, I think, is even more serious at the moment," Kaja Kallas told reporters on the sidelines of the annual meeting of world leaders at the United Nations.

The Houthis have made rapid advances in recent weeks along the Red Sea coast, further complicating routes in a region that also includes the Strait of Hormuz, where traffic had already been drastically reduced due to the war between the United States and Iran.

Italy, one of the key countries in the Aspides mission, announced that it was preparing a naval mission in the area for its own vessels, noting that it could not wait for the EU to respond to the new crisis.

Kallas stated that the Houthi attacks were affecting European interests and impacting the global economy. "The EU's Operation Aspides is making a crucial contribution to security in the region and to global maritime trade, but the operation needs more naval and air resources to deal with the increased level of threats in the area," she declared.

The Vice-President of the European Commission also sent a letter to the 27 EU member states on September 19 asking them to increase their contributions. The matter would be addressed at upcoming meetings of defense and foreign ministers, she noted in the letter.

"This situation, which continues to evolve as we speak, is already affecting European interests with repercussions on our supply chains and could have implications for our ability to support our economies, which have already been hit by rising fuel prices," Kallas said in the letter.

"For the moment, although the Houthis communicate that they will only target interests linked to Saudi Arabia, there is uncertainty about their course of action regarding vessels transiting the strait. In any case, they are now in a better position to potentially harm maritime traffic," she added.