{"id":6418,"date":"2026-03-16T13:32:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:32:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/6418\/"},"modified":"2026-03-16T13:32:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-16T13:32:10","slug":"eu-weighs-action-to-secure-shipping-in-the-persian-gulf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/6418\/","title":{"rendered":"EU weighs action to secure shipping in the Persian Gulf"},"content":{"rendered":"

BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 European countries on Monday demanded to know more about U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s plans for the war on Iran and when the conflict<\/a> might end as they weighed whether to agree to his call to send warships to help shore up security in the Persian Gulf.<\/p>\n

Trump has asked allies<\/a> \u2014 including France, China, Japan, South Korea and Britain \u2014 to help secure the strait for global shipping. He said the U.S. was talking to \u201cabout seven\u201d countries for military support to help reopen the trade route. But he wouldn\u2019t say which ones and gave no indication of when such a coalition might be formed.<\/p>\n

Separately, in an interview with the Financial Times, he warned that \u201cif there\u2019s no response or if it\u2019s a negative response I think it will be very bad for the future of NATO.\u201d<\/p>\n

As European Union foreign ministers gathered to discuss Trump\u2019s demand, German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul said it\u2019s important for the United States and Israel to define \u201cwhen they consider the military aims of their deployment to have been reached.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need more clarity here,\u201d Wadephul told reporters.<\/p>\n

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s spokesperson, Stefan Kornelius, said underlined \u201cthis war has nothing to do with NATO \u2014 it is not NATO\u2019s war. NATO is an alliance to defend the alliance area.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kornelius said that Berlin \u201ctook note\u201d of Trump\u2019s comments, but he added: \u201cThe United States did not consult us before this war, and so we believe this is not a matter for NATO or the German government.\u201d<\/p>\n

Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also said that U.S. allies in Europe want to understand Trump\u2019s \u201cstrategic goals. What will be the plan?\u201d<\/p>\n

Their reactions were typical of the cautious response that many in Europe have shown to the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, although few allies in Europe have openly opposed it. Trump has described his demand for help in the strait as \u201ca very small endeavor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski invited the Trump administration to go through the proper channels.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a request via NATO, we will of course out of respect and sympathy for our American allies consider it very carefully,\u201d he said. Sikorski made a reference to Article 4 of NATO\u2019s founding treaty, which allies can invoke if they believe their territory or security is under threat.<\/p>\n

\u2018Not be drawn into the wider war\u2019<\/p>\n

As she headed in to chair the meeting of ministers in Brussels, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that \u201cit is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that\u2019s why we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European side.\u201d<\/p>\n

Kallas said the EU could expand its Operation Aspides naval mission<\/a> to protect shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf. If no agreement is found among the 27 EU countries, those who stand ready to go it alone could form a \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d and provide military support on an ad hoc basis.<\/p>\n

The war in Iran, sparked on Feb. 28 airstrikes by Israel and the U.S., has driven up energy prices worldwide, with brent crude up more than 40%<\/a>. But the conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain<\/a> beyond oil, affecting everything from pharmaceuticals from India, semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that come from the Middle East.<\/p>\n

Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.<\/p>\n

France has said it is working with countries \u2014 President Emmanuel Macron mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia \u2014 on a possible international mission to escort ships through the strait but has stressed it must be when \u201cthe circumstances permit,\u201d when fighting has subsided.<\/p>\n

French senior officials, speaking anonymously on ongoing talks, said the Netherlands, Italy, and Greece had shown interest and that Spain might be involved in some way.<\/p>\n

In London, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Britain \u201cwill not be drawn into the wider war, \u201d but that it is discussing with the U.S. and allies in Europe and the Gulf the possibility of using mine-hunting drones that the U.K. already has in the region. But he signaled that Britain is unlikely to dispatch a warship.<\/p>\n

EU\u2019s refugee concerns<\/p>\n

Operation Aspides was formed to thwart attacks to shipping in the Red Sea by Somali pirates<\/a> and Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have yet to join the current fray.<\/a> Saudi Aramco manages a pipeline network that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz to deliver oil to the Red Sea port city of Yanbu.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we want to have security in this region, then it would be easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the region and maybe change a bit,\u201d Kallas said. \u201cThere is also talk of coalition of the willing in this regard, but we also need to see what could be the fastest to provide this opening for the Strait of Hormuz, but of course, as you can see, it\u2019s not easy.\u201d<\/p>\n

The EU is anxious that a potential refugee crisis in Iran<\/a> will develop if the war continues.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough for now, the conflict has not translated into immediate migratory flows toward the EU, what the future holds remains unclear and necessitates the full mobilization of every migration diplomacy tool we have at our disposal,\u201d said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in a statement Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u2014-<\/p>\n

Associated Press writers Geir Moulson in Berlin, Jill Lawless in London, and Sylive Corbet in Paris contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BRUSSELS (AP) \u2014 European countries on Monday demanded to know more about U.S. President Donald Trump\u2019s plans for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6419,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[2880,18,269,381,168,674,69,125,171,264,3164,3802,2873,349,1935,451,4630,192,2631,4631,4629,260,300,3991,142],"class_list":["post-6418","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brussels","tag-berlin","tag-brussels","tag-business","tag-donald-trump","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-eurocopa-2024","tag-europe","tag-european-union","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-general-news","tag-iran","tag-iran-war","tag-johann-wadephul","tag-kaja-kallas","tag-keir-starmer","tag-nato","tag-north-atlantic-treaty-organization","tag-politics","tag-radek-sikorski","tag-stefan-kornelius","tag-strait-of-hormuz","tag-united-kingdom","tag-ursula-von-der-leyen","tag-war-and-unrest","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@be\/116239109026282678","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6418","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6418"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6418\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6419"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/be\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}