EU Foreign Minister: We must get more ships into the Red Sea

The EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, is calling for more ships to be deployed to the protection mission in the Red Sea.

The need is greater than ever. We have received many requests to escort ships, but we need more naval units capable of doing so, says Kallas on his way into today’s meeting of defence ministers in Brussels.

When we started, it was said that the mission would consist of ten ships. We do not have that many at present. But perhaps a few more will be announced today, says the head of the Foreign Ministry.

The EU’s Aspides mission was launched in 2024 to protect maritime traffic into the Red Sea and on towards the Suez Canal. This year, there have also been discussions about possibly extending the mission to include the Strait of Hormuz, on the other side of the Arabian Peninsula.

^{Cover image: EU High Representative Kaja Kallas. Archive image. Photo: Mindaugas Kulbis/AP/TT}