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Houthi militants, who control the most populous parts of Yemen,
have launched waves of drones and missiles at vessels heading to
and from Egypt's Suez Canal since November.
They say their actions are a demonstration of solidarity with
the Palestinians amid Israel's war against Hamas militants in
Gaza but the attacks have disrupted shipping, prompting U.S. and
British strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.
The 27-nation EU aims to launch its own Red Sea naval mission by
mid-February to help protect ships there.
"Just striking the Houthis won't do enough. We need mid and long
term solutions," Ahmed Awad bin Mubarak, foreign minister in
Yemen's Aden-based government that is backed by Saudi Arabia,
told reporters ahead of talks with EU officials.
"The EU has the wrong approach. They need to exercise more
pressure on the Houthis such as by designating them as a
terrorist group. Their argument is that if they adopt this then
it will worsen the humanitarian situation," he said.
"But this approach didn't work. The Houthis are still
blackmailing the international community and the humanitarian
situation has not improved."
He also called for more EU support for building Yemeni
institutions such as the coastguard and for humanitarian aid to
be channelled through the central bank in Aden.
"Houthis will never stop... They have the ideology that as a
group they have a divine right (to rule) in Yemen," he said,
adding that they were also part of Iran's regional strategy.
He said the West's lack of a "clear path" to ending the conflict
in Gaza and securing justice for the Palestinians was
strengthening "all the extremists groups in our region".
(Reporting by Julia Payne; Editing by Gareth Jones)
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