Euronews aboard EU warships in the Red Sea: Europe eyes wider mandate as Houthi threat grows

The European Union is mulling over expanding the mandate of its Red Sea naval operation as the Iran-backed Houthis are reported to be preparing to close the Bab el-Mandeb strait at Tehran's behest, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told Euronews during a visit to the mission's vessels and headquarters in Djibouti.

"If one vital trade route is closed, then we need the other one to be clearly open," Kallas said aboard one of the EU's patrol vessels. "We are discussing also whether we can change the mandate to include minesweeping."

She also signalled that ships pledged to a separate coalition assembled to protect the Strait of Hormuz, which she described as "not functioning yet," could be redeployed to Aspides in the interim.

"It also has increased the discussions of what more we can do," she said. "So if those ships that have been promised to the Coalition of the Willing, because they are just waiting, could be deployed here under operational speed as long as the Coalition of the Willing is not functional yet."

"If those ships that have been promised to the Coalition of the Willing could be deployed here under Aspides as long as the Coalition of the Willing is not functional yet," she said.

The Bab el-Mandeb — Arabic for "Gate of Tears" — is a narrow strait roughly 30 kilometres wide at its narrowest point, separating Yemen on the Arabian Peninsula from Djibouti and Eritrea on the Horn of Africa.

Around 10-15% of global maritime trade passes through it, including a significant share of Europe's oil and gas imports.

A closure would force vessels to take the much longer route around the Cape of Good Hope, adding two to three weeks to journeys between Asia and Europe and sharply increasing shipping costs.

Kallas signed a new EU-Djibouti Status of Forces Agreement for Operation Aspides during the visit, warning that recent Houthi missile attacks on Saudi Arabia were a sign that instability on land becomes insecurity at sea.

“Maritime security is under growing pressure," Kallas told the gathered press in Djibouti.

"Iran's repeated attacks on commercial vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz are unravelling the interim agreement with the United States, while the situation in the Red Sea is once again deteriorating.”

World's economic lifeline under threat

The pressure on Aspides is already visible. Commander of Operation Aspides Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis told Euronews that the mission was struggling to keep pace with demand from the shipping industry.

"The requests from the shipping industry are increasing and also depending on the volatility of the things that are going on in the neighbouring countries, this is putting a lot of load on us," Rear Admiral Gryparis said.

"That means that we need more ships in order to be able to deliver and cover all of these requests that we receive."

Chairman of the EU Military Committee General Sean Clancy, present during the visit, emphasised the strategic importance of the EU's continued presence.

"This is the European Union expressing its strategic interest in maintaining security and acting in a security role through the auspices of Aspides and Atalanta here in the North West Indian Ocean," General Clancy told Euronews.

Kallas’ visit coincided with reports of Tehran requesting from its Yemeni proxies, the Ansar Allah — more commonly known as the Houthis — to get ready to shut the Bab el-Mandeb strait if the US attacks Iran’s infrastructure.

The Houthis launched their Red Sea campaign in October 2023, declaring solidarity with Hamas during the war in Gaza and targeting vessels they alleged had Israeli connections.

The campaign drove a roughly 50% drop in commercial traffic through the Red Sea between late 2023 and early 2024, forcing dozens of major shipping companies to reroute around Africa.

The Houthis paused most attacks after the US-brokered Israel-Hamas ceasefire in October 2025 but have since announced their readiness to resume them if conditions change.

In a move that may send further shockwaves through the global economies as the Strait of Hormuz is still closed, Iran has chosen to use its so-called "Axis of Resistance" network to threaten the key maritime route.

The network has served as a force multiplier for Iran throughout the current war, allowing Tehran to open multiple fronts simultaneously without directly deploying its own forces.

Any blockade of the Bab el-Mandeb would open an extra front in addition to the Hormuz, to pressure the US and its allies from further military action in Iran.

Hormuz blockade behind rise in piracy

A second, less reported consequence of the Strait of Hormuz blockade has been a rise in piracy in the Indian Ocean, according to Vice Admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano, commander of Operation Atalanta.

"The blockade of the Strait of Hormuz made all the illegal traffic that used to come from the south of Pakistan to Somalia impossible," he told Euronews.

"So the pirates decided they needed money — they needed to go back to piracy. Basically, because of those factors, there is an increase in piracy right now in the Indian Ocean."

EUNAVFOR Aspides, launched in February 2024 in response to the Houthi campaign against commercial shipping that began in October 2023, is a purely defensive maritime security mission covering the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea and Gulf of Oman. It does not conduct strikes on land targets.

Over the last two years, it has safeguarded more than 670 merchant ships and saved 128 seafarers, Kallas said.

Operation Atalanta, the EU's older naval mission, launched in December 2008, was originally established to counter Somali piracy and has since been broadened to encompass broader maritime security in the western Indian Ocean.

Both missions are coordinated from Djibouti, which hosts military bases for more than half a dozen countries — including the US, France, China, Japan, Italy and Germany — owing to its position at the southern entrance to the Red Sea.

If Bab el-Mandeb were to be choked off, too, the cost would be borne by European homes and businesses. For now, Europe is moving to keep this open.

“Seeing our sailors at work reminds me and reminds all of us that the freedom of navigation cannot be taken for granted. It must be protected every single day,” Kallas told the Djibouti government officials.

“When shipping is threatened, supply chains disrupted, prices rise, and families and businesses feel the consequences far beyond this region. That is why today's agreement matters," Kallas said.

"It's about more than supporting European operations. It's about keeping one of the world's economic lifelines open together,” she concluded.

Euronews correspondent Toby Gregory reported from the EU military vessels patrolling the Red Sea.