Eduardo González
The Government of Pedro Sánchez is going to wait for what the EU and NATO decide before getting involved in the operation launched by the United States to guarantee the security of maritime traffic in the Red Sea, hours after the North American Department of Defense included Spain among the countries participating in the operation. To take this step, the Executive would have to seek the approval of Parliament, which would probably force it to seek the votes of the PP in the face of the foreseeable rejection of some of its investiture partners.
The Secretary of Defense of the United States, Lloyd J. Austin, announced yesterday the launch of Operation Prosperity Guardian in order to guarantee the security of maritime traffic in the Red Sea in the face of “the recent escalation of reckless attacks by the Houthis since Yemen”, which “threaten the free flow of commerce, endanger innocent mariners and violate International Law”.
“This is an international challenge that demands collective action” and, therefore, “today I am announcing the establishment of Operation Prosperity Guardian, an important new multinational security initiative under the umbrella of the Combined Maritime Forces and the leadership of its Task Force 153, which focuses on security in the Red Sea,” he continued.
“Operation Prosperity Guardian is bringing together multiple countries to include the United Kingdom, Bahrain, Canada, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Seychelles and Spain, to jointly address security challenges in the southern Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, with the goal of ensuring freedom of navigation for all countries and bolstering regional security and prosperity,” Austin added.
However, government sources indicated yesterday to The Diplomat that participation in the missions is subject to the decisions of the EU and NATO and, therefore, Spain will not become unilaterally involved in a military mission of this type. In this sense, Spain would only get involved if the EU modified the objectives of Operation Atalanta, which operates in Somali waters close to Yemen, or if NATO decided to get involved in this operation through one of its fleets. permanent ones in which Spain participates. The same sources showed some surprise at the speed with which Austin mentioned Spain among the countries of the operation without waiting for a decision to be made on the matter.
The truth is that any decision in this regard should first go through Parliament. Taking into account the more than likely rejection of some of the parties that supported Sánchez during the investiture vote, everything indicates that the Government could be forced to seek the votes of the PP at a time as convulsive and polarized as the one in which the current Spanish internal politics.
“Once again, Pedro Sánchez commits our Armed Forces to an international military operation,” declared yesterday the president of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo. “I consider the decision correct, but again he does it without informing Parliament, ignoring the institutions and ignoring democratic procedures,” he added through his official account on the social network X.
