Crosetto: The European Union approves Mission Aspides

Immagini messe a disposizione con licenza
CC-BY-NC-SA 3.0 IT

“Mission ASPIDES is approved: the European Union, cohesively, has endorsed Mission Aspides to respond to the Red Sea crisis that is threatening the economic stability of the Old Continent and the West, in general. The Defence Ministry, after the Italian Parliament’s approval, will be able to provide its contribution and assume the embarked command of the operation, as required by the European Union. Italy, aware of the strategic relevance of that area, will play an important role also to foster the mission’s coordination with operation EUFOR Atalanta, of which we assumed the tactical command on 8 February”: this was Defence Minister Guido Crosetto’s comment on the EU decision to kickoff Mission Aspides, aimed to defend western commercial vessels in the Red Sea. The possible establishment of a mission had already been discussed during the informal meeting of the European Union Defence Ministers on 31 January.

“A necessary answer to the hybrid war – the Minister continued - that the Houtis are waging in Bab al Mandeb strait, cutting communication lanes used by a number of countries, including Italy, affecting their economies and establishing a competition deficit for the West, to the advantage of other nations whose vessels are not attacked”.

Currently our Caio Duilio destroyer is engaged in the Red Sea, tasked with ensuring maritime surveillance to protect commercial vessels and guarantee the security of commercial routes.

The area of operations set by the EU mandate includes the maritime area between Bab al Mandeb and Hormuz, including the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arab Sea, Gulf of Oman and Persian Gulf.