Spain lifts Veto on EU Participation in the Red Sea
Sudan Events – Sumaya Sayed
Spain lifts veto on EU participation in the Red Sea but will not participate in the mission. Sources from the Ministry of Defence have sent Spain’s veto of the operation in the Red Sea. “Sánchez’s partner is not comfortable in an operation with the US,” they state categorically. The Executive lifts its veto on the European Union initiating a new mission, in which Spain does not contemplate participating. For the time being, Spain will not be in the Indian Ocean fighting piracy, which is rebounding again.
Last Thursday, the Working Group on Foreign Affairs of the 27 held an emergency meeting at the request of Josep Borrell. At the time, the possibility was raised that the anti-piracy Operation Atalanta, which has a presence in the Indian Ocean but has extended its area of influence to the Red Sea, would be integrated into the US-led Operation Guardian of Prosperity to protect commercial traffic from Houthi attacks. Spain, to the surprise of the rest of the countries, voted against this proposal. Its veto is binding, so the operation could not be carried out without its consent, among other things, because the national executive is one of those participating in Operation Atalanta, and the only Ally that remains in this mission uninterruptedly since its creation in 2008. In fact, at the moment it is the F-80 class frigate Victoria, which is deployed in the Indian Ocean fighting piracy, which is rebounding again after three years of calm.
