{"id":24467,"date":"2019-08-29T20:12:22","date_gmt":"2019-08-29T20:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2019\/08\/29\/eu-defense-chiefs-eye-ad-hoc-maritime-security-forces-but-not-for-the-hormuz-strait\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T22:10:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T22:10:32","slug":"eu-defense-chiefs-eye-ad-hoc-maritime-security-forces-but-not-for-the-hormuz-strait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/global\/europe\/2019\/08\/29\/eu-defense-chiefs-eye-ad-hoc-maritime-security-forces-but-not-for-the-hormuz-strait\/","title":{"rendered":"EU defense chiefs eye ad-hoc, naval security forces \u2014 but not for the Hormuz Strait"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

COLOGNE, Germany \u2014 European defense ministers have thrown their support behind a concept for deploying European Union member nations\u2019 naval forces to protect key shipping lanes, though the idea is not meant to secure traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan for a \u201ccoordinated maritime presence,\u201d as officials call it, is based on voluntary force contributions from EU states, with assets remaining under national control at all times. Details will be ironed out over the next few months, with a test deployment eyed in the Gulf of Guinea off the western coast of Africa at some point, according to Federica Mogherini, the bloc\u2019s chief diplomat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe see a growing demand for an EU role as a maritime security provider, not only in our region but also farther away,\u201d she told reporters Thursday during a news conference in Helsinki, Finland, where EU defense ministers met for informal talks. The Asia-Pacific area could be such a region, she added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The move comes as the United States, together with the United Kingdom, Australia and Bahrain, begin Operation Sentinel, in which warships from coalition members escort cargo vessels in the Hormuz Strait to keep Iran from seizing them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials in Washington had wanted European countries to participate, but they found no takers other than the United Kingdom. Leaders in Berlin declined the request, arguing that German forces could be drawn into a war if bullets started flying between U.S. and Iranian vessels in the course of the protection mission.<\/p>\n\n\n\t