Arabia, Italian Aspides fighter hit: Crosetto writes to the EU

There is a red thread, not even very thin, that links the Ta’if air base in Saudi Arabia used by an international coalition in an anti-Daesh function – here on Thursday night an Italian Eurofighter was hit on the ground, probably by a Houthi drone – and a Strait, that of Bab al Mandeb, a crucial maritime chokepoint for the transit of goods and energy between the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea. This thread consists of the cross raids between Saudi Arabia and the Yemeni Houthis. And it is a thread that also touches Italy, which operates in a scenario of “wider Mediterranean”.

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Italian personnel operate at the base in Arabia. The account of what happened is in the words of Guido Crosetto. “An Italian F-2000 aircraft, which was inside the base and in a decentralized area, was hit,” the minister reconstructed. “No Italian military personnel were involved and there is no other damage to vehicles or infrastructure used by our personnel.” “I asked the Chief of Defense Staff, General Luciano Portolano, the Commander of the Joint Operations Command, Army General Giovanni Maria Iannucci, and the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Air Squadron General Antonio Conserva, to provide me with a further assessment, after those already carried out in recent weeks, on the evolution of the situation, the conditions of our personnel and possible operational options,” added the minister. “I was reassured that all security measures to safeguard military personnel had already been implemented for some time.”

In parallel, Crosetto moved on the Aspides-Bab al Mandeb dossier. The slowdown of Italian ships, if not the standstill, began with the intensification of Houthi attacks in the Strait between Djibouti and Yemen. After suggesting the possibility that Italy decides to escort ships in the Red Sea outside the framework of the European mission, the Defense Minister wrote a letter to Kaja Kallas, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. He asked her to strengthen the European Aspides mission by sending other military ships from other countries.

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Italy – according to what has been learned – would be ready to send a second frigate (in addition to the Bergamini), if requested, but other countries should contribute to supporting the financial burden of the operation. “We have been asking the European Union for months to strengthen the Aspides mission,” recalled Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani on the sidelines of the presentation at the Farnesina of the First Euromediterranean Water Forum. “Italy and Greece,” he added, “are doing a lot,” but “if we have to guarantee all of Europe, then if there is no military contribution there must be a financial contribution. Crosetto wrote to Kallas, I hope the response can be positive soon.”

Brussels defended its mission. “Europe,” Kallas claimed, “is contributing to protecting maritime traffic in the Red Sea from Houthi attacks: given the worsening security situation, the Aspides operation has raised the alert level of its ships while continuing escort operations.” A few minutes earlier a spokesperson for the European Commission, regarding the possibility that Italy decides to escort ships in the Red Sea outside the Aspides framework, had sent a message: “The active presence of Aspides in the region has ensured the safety of seafarers and is helping to make a crucial maritime route safe, especially in the current geopolitical context which, as we can see, is extremely unstable. With the Aspides and Atalanta operations,” he added, “the EU is providing a fundamental contribution to the protection of maritime traffic in the region.”

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