“The government will only participate in the initiative under the umbrella of the European Union and NATO,” said government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría.
The Spanish government said on Friday it preferred to take a position of “maximum prudence” and has yet to make a decision on whether to join the US-led coalition formed to protect international shipping in the Red Sea after repeated attacks. of Yemen’s Shia Houthi rebels.
“Spain will never participate in an operation unilaterally,” said government spokeswoman Pilar Alegría, adding that the Socialist government in Madrid would not join the initiative unless “under the umbrella of the European Union and NATO».
He summed up the Spanish position against the American initiative, which was announced on Monday by US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in these two words, “maximum prudence».
Alegría spoke to reporters after a meeting between Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and the leader of the main opposition Popular Party (PP, right) Alberto Nunez Feijo.
In a separate press conference, Feijo said he raised questions with Mr. Sanchez about Spain’s possible participation in the coalition, which, according to a Pentagon spokesman, has now been joined by more than 20 countries.
“The decision is not to intervene, or in any case not to intervene on the terms proposed by the US“, summed up Feyho after his meeting with the prime minister.
On Tuesday morning, the Spanish Ministry of Defense said that Madrid “depends on the decisions of the European Union and NATO”, and “therefore, will not participate unilaterally” in the so-called Operation Prosperity Guardian.
Unlike other European countries, Spain has not announced the dispatch of any of its naval ships to the Red Sea to participate in the operation.
The US initiative is intended to end Houthi attacks on merchant ships. Shiite rebels say they are targeting ships “connected to Israel”, or moving to Israeli ports, to pressure an end to the Israeli military’s operation to “eliminate” Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
These attacks have caused severe disruption to maritime traffic and many major shipping companies have decided to suspend their ships’ crossings from the Red Sea.
The Spanish government has not explained what its reservations are about the US initiative, but Mr Sanchez’s Socialist Party’s governing partner is a radical left party (Sumar), which is generally hostile to US foreign policy.
Source :Skai
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