European leaders rejected United States President Donald Trump’s demands to help ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz as European Union foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss soaring oil prices amid the US-Israel war over Iran.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadefuhl said on Monday that Berlin had no intention of joining a military operation during the conflict.
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“We expect the US and Israel to inform us, to include us in what they are doing there and to inform us whether these goals have been achieved,” he told reporters before the meeting in Brussels.
“Once we have a clear picture of that, we believe we should move to the next step, which is to define the security architecture for this entire region with the neighboring states,” he said.
Waddeful said NATO had made no decision on assuming responsibilities in the Strait of Hormuz after Trump called on the naval alliance on Sunday to deploy warships to secure the key Gulf waterway, through which one-fifth of the world’s oil flows.
The strait is essentially closed as a result of the war, which has seen the US and Israel launch deadly strikes across Iran since February 28. Iran retaliated by firing missiles and drones across the wider Middle East, rolling global energy markets.
Even as oil and gas prices soar, Trump’s call for countries to secure the waterway has been met with pushback from several European countries.
Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis said on Monday that Greece would not engage in any military operations in the Strait of Hormuz, while Italy said Italy was not involved in any naval operations.
However, Danish Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said Europe should keep an open mind in helping to ensure freedom of navigation. Even if the continent does not support the US-Israeli decision to go to war with Iran, it is in the strait.
“We have to deal with the world, not as we want it to be,” Rasmussen said, adding that the EU should decide on a plan “with a view to enlargement”.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom is working on a collective plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and restore freedom of navigation in the Middle East but doing so will not be easy.
EU feels pressure from Trump
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters before the meeting in Brussels that the bloc’s leaders will focus on how the EU can contribute to reopening the waterway.
“We first need to discuss what member states are prepared to do in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said. “Certainly, there are needs to open the Strait of Hormuz right now.”
Kallas said the closure of the strait, which has sent oil prices above $100 a barrel, benefits Russia’s war on Ukraine, which is largely funded by Moscow’s energy revenues.
Reporting from Brussels, Al Jazeera’s Step Wesen said it was clear European leaders were “feeling increasing pressure from Trump to help reopen the Strait of Hormuz”.
“There is very little appetite (on the part of EU leaders) to join the war, especially if they feel left out of the loop,” Wesen said. “They are discussing a way to reopen the Strait of Hormuz, but that doesn’t mean sending warships.”
In an interview with the Financial Times on Sunday, Trump said NATO faces a “very bad” future if it receives no response or a negative one to the proposed military operation in the strait.
France has suggested the EU may expand its Aspides mission, a small naval mission set up in 2024 to protect ships from attacks by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea.
It currently has an Italian and a Greek ship under its direct command and can also call on a French ship and another Italian ship for support.
But Germany is among the EU members to express skepticism about the idea.
“What does … Trump expect a handful or two of European frigates to do in the Strait of Hormuz that a mighty US Navy can’t?” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin. “This is not our war, we did not start it.”
Asked about Trump’s comments on the future of NATO, Pistorius said he did not expect the alliance to fall apart over the issue.
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