EU seeks Gulf allies in quest to protect Red Sea

The National

a day ago

The two shores of the Red Sea – the Gulf region and Horn of Africa – and the European Union should come together to strengthen security and protect joint interests in the crucial global waterway, a EU envoy told The National on Thursday.
The Red Sea is one of the world's most vital arteries for global shipping, with up to 15 per cent of the world's maritime trade passing through. But situated between the Gulf region and the Horn of Africa, it has not remained immune to the conflict surrounding it.
Yemen's Houthi rebels have carried out several attacks on shipping lanes since November 2023, claiming solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza under Israeli bombardment – with Red Sea shipping only now beginning to recover. Simultaneously, conflict continues in Sudan and in Somalia, where the threat of Al Shabab is also growing.
'The two shores of the Red Sea together with the EU' should combine efforts to 'discuss joint interests, joint possibilities to strengthen security in the Red Sea', said Annette Weber, EU Special Representative to the Horn of Africa.
'We all use it for our trade, for LNG, green hydrogen, underwater connectivity,' Ms Weber said of the waterway's strategic importance and the need to collaborate on securing it.
Ms Weber said that while bilateral engagement takes place between individual countries from the Gulf and the Horn of Africa, there is not much regional co-operation. 'A structure needs to be envisaged together,' she said. 'It needs initial effort for us to have a group, to talk, to see what our common ideas are.'
She said there was no such multilateral initiative yet but that 'we hope to start very soon' because the threats are coming from both sides of the Red Sea. 'We have the Houthis, we have Al Shabab, we have ISIS, we have the risk of, for example, Sudan working closely with Iran in the Red Sea – that is not in our interest.'
While Europe does not have a physical shore on the Red Sea, its trade has been significantly impacted by the attacks on the shipping lane. 'Everyone is suffering – including Europe – because of the Houthi attacks,' she said.
A truce, mediated by Oman, has been in place since last month between the Houthis and the US which stipulates that the Iran-backed group would refrain from attacking vessels in the Red Sea. The agreement came after weeks of intensified US bombardment on Houthi targets in Yemen and growing frustration with Europe in the current administration.
Fading US support
Ms Weber said the leaked Signal group chat – where top US officials were sharing Yemen war plans – was a wake up call for the EU.
'I just hate bailing Europe out again,' US Vice President JD Vance was reported as writing in the leaked conversation. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth replied: 'Vice President, I fully share your loathing of European free-loading. It's pathetic.'
'The US has made it very clear. I don't see them leaving tomorrow, but I think it's very clear,' Ms Weber said of a lack of desire by the US to continue financially supporting the EU's security in the Red Sea.
The EU launched Operation Aspides – named after the Greek word for 'shield' – in February last year in response to Houthi attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea to the Suez Canal. It provides close protection for commercial ships, intercepts strikes on them, and monitors and assesses potential threats.
Red Sea marine traffic has increased by 60 per cent, to 36 to 37 ships a day, since August last year, but is still short of volumes seen before Yemen's Houthis began attacking ships in the region, the commander of the Aspides naval mission told Reuters on Thursday.
Ms Weber praised the EU's co-operation and engagement with the Gulf countries with regards to the Red Sea, but also in Sudan and Somalia.
Gulf and the Horn of Africa
'It is clear that the Gulf countries are playing a very key role in the Horn of Africa, in the Red Sea and that is something where we feel this is not just a joint challenge but also a joint opportunity,' she said.
The co-operation goes beyond security, with both working on wider interests including energy diversification, water harvesting and investment. 'Of course the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan is a key aspect and we do work and co-ordinate quite closely.'
Famine has been detected in at least five areas of Sudan, including three camps for displaced people in Darfur, the Integrated Food Security Classification has said. The UN and rights groups have repeatedly warned of the dire humanitarian situation on the ground.
Ms Weber described that conflict as obstructing the delivery of aid and stressed the need for more to be done to ensure that humanitarian assistance is provided.
Aid groups say they struggle to reach the most vulnerable as warring parties limit access, especially in Darfur. A convoy of 15 lorries carrying food to the famine-stricken city of El Fasher came under attack in North Darfur late on Monday. Five were killed and several others injured, said the World Food Programme and Unicef, the two UN agencies involved.
The war has killed tens of thousands of people, displaced about 13 million and left more than 25 million facing acute hunger, famine conditions are reported in areas across the impoverished nation.
'For the EU, it's still important to say and to understand that for us the future of Sudan is a civilian-led government, it's not either military ruling the country,' Ms Weber said.
'This is really where we need to come back to what they have promised, even before the coup,' she said of the pledges made by both sides to ensure a future government would be chosen by the people.
'We need to bring the young people back because they are the future of the country,' she said of the EU's vision for peace in a postwar Sudan.
Several attempts have been made to push for an end to the conflict such as the Jeddah talks, which began weeks after the fighting broke out. They have focused on establishing ceasefires, enabling the delivery of humanitarian assistance and confidence-building measures towards a permanent cessation of hostilities but have fallen short of reaching a truce.
'As a military, you provide security for your country, you don't rule the country,' she added while calling for another Jeddah-type format to be held soon to reach an end to the fighting.
However, Ms Weber acknowledged that Sudanese returning to Khartoum was a hopeful and positive indication that there was a will to become back to Sudan. But, she warned of the need to ensure safety and basic necessities such as electricity and water for those returning.
In addition to Sudan, the envoy highlighted that the EU was moving in the same direction as regional countries such as Egypt and the UAE, with Somalia being another example of co-operation.
Recent reductions in US aid and military support could potentially undermine efforts to combat Al Shabab and a possible American withdrawal from the country could leave a gap.
'We see the US moving away from Mogadishu more towards the north of Somalia, towards the shore with the Red Sea,' she said of shifting American interests and priorities in the country.
'They understand Al Shabab less as an international terrorist threat and see it more as a domestic threat.'