Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib said Friday that the country will participate in the European mission in the Red Sea to “protect the interests of Belgians and to safeguard the purchasing power of our citizens.”
“Maritime security is important to us all,” Lahbib wrote on her X platform, the Arab World Press reported.
Media reports revealed that the European Union is actively formulating a military mission to safeguard the freedom of navigation along the crucial shipping corridor leading to the Suez Canal. This strategic waterway connects Europe to Asia. The initiative comes in response to persistent attacks by the Yemeni "Houthi" group on both commercial and military vessels in the Red Sea.
The Houthis have repeatedly targeted vessels in the vital Red Sea shipping lane with strikes they say are in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
The US launched strikes against Houthi sites to “disrupt and degrade the Houthis' capabilities to endanger mariners and threaten global trade.”
