The participation of Spain in the operation Guardian of Prosperity in the Red Sea, announced on Monday by the Secretary of Defense of the United States, could be carried out without an express authorization of the Congress of Deputies, in case it is done as an extension of tasks of the Atalanta operation, undertaken by the Naval Force of the European Union (Eunavfor) in 2008 to prevent piracy in the Gulf of Aden, especially on the coast of Somalia, a problem that became quite serious now 15 years ago. Last night, the General Staff of Defense announced that Spain’s participation in the operation promoted by the United States will take place within the framework of the European Union, “assessing all the circumstances”.
The participation of Spanish Navy personnel in the Atalanta operation was authorized by Congress, by a large majority, on January 21, 2009. The connection between Atalanta and Guardian of Prosperity was launched yesterday initiative of Josep Borrell, vice-president of the European Commission and High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Borrell announced yesterday that EU member countries will cooperate with the Guardian of Prosperity operation through the Atalanta device, a military operation that is still in force and that in 2008 saw the launch of the European Union Naval Force. “Atalanta has already begun to cooperate with the operation Guardian of Prosperity in the south of Delhi. It hopes to provide even more support, with the appropriate capabilities,” Spanish vice admiral Ignacio Villanueva Serrano, who was appointed on November 23, wrote on social media yesterday commander of the Atalanta operation.
It will soon be 15 years since Congress authorized the sending of funds to the Gulf of Aden to contribute to the protection of merchant ships and fishing vessels that were then besieged by Somali pirates. The situation became critical. The collapse of state structures in Somalia, one of the poorest countries in Africa, favored two barbaric phenomena: some Western countries took advantage of the absence of controls to make toxic discharges in Somali waters and artisanal fishermen organized in pirate gangs to hijack boats and collect ransoms.
On October 3, 2009, when the Atalanta operation was already underway, Somali pirates kidnapped for 47 days the 35 crew members of the Basque fishing vessel Alakrana, who were released after a ransom of 2.6 million was paid. euros.
Gradually, surveillance was imposed on piracy, but Operation Atalanta remains active and in recent weeks, coinciding with attacks by Houthi militias on boats crossing the Bab al-Mandab Strait, a resurgence of piracy in the Gulf of Aden, according to Spanish military sources.
In recent days, the Spanish frigate Victoria has had to monitor the situation of the Bulgarian cargo ship Ruen, of 45,000 tons, allegedly hijacked on the northern coast of Puntland, in Somali waters. Right now, the pirates’ preferred target is World Food Program merchant ships carrying aid to Somalia, Sudan and Kenya.
The Strait of Bab al-Mandab is located in the radius of action of the Atalanta operation, but there is one point that has not yet been clarified and it refers to the military scope of the operation that they announced on Monday the united states Escort merchant ships to strengthen their security while crossing the Red Sea or directly attack the Houthi guerrilla bases on the western coast of Yemen, in front of the Bab al-Mandab, to nullify the offensive capacity of this militia under the tutelage of Iran? Atalanta was conceived to protect freedom of navigation.
