EU weighs action to keep Strait of Hormuz open
[March 16, 2026]
By SAM McNEIL and LORNE COOK
BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Union said on Monday it will consider how
to help keep the Strait of Hormuz open as energy and commodity prices
rise in the third week of war between Iran, Israel and the United
States.
“It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open, and that’s why
we are also discussing what we can do in this regard from the European
side,” said Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, ahead of a
meeting of the 27-nation bloc’s foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump has asked allies — including France, China,
Japan, South Korea and Britain — to help secure the strait for global
shipping.
Kallas said the EU could expand its Aspides naval mission to protect
shipping in the Red Sea up into the Persian Gulf, or it could form a
“coalition of the willing” with member nations contributing military
capacity on an ad hoc basis.
The war in Iran, sparked on Feb. 28 airstrikes by Israel and the U.S.,
has driven up energy prices worldwide, with brent crude up more than
40%. But the conflict has also disrupted the wider global supply chain
beyond oil, affecting everything from pharmaceuticals from India,
semiconductors from Asia and oil-derived products like fertilizers that
come from the Middle East.
Cargo ships are stuck in the Gulf or making a much longer detour around
the southern tip of Africa. Planes carrying air cargo out of the Middle
East are grounded. And the longer the war drags on, the more likely that
there will be shortages and price increases on a wide range of goods.
France has said it is working with countries — President Emmanuel Macron
mentioned partners in Europe, India and Asia — on a possible
international mission to escort ships through the strait but has
stressed it must be when “the circumstances permit,” when fighting has
subsided.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul, told ARD television: “Will we
soon be an active part of this conflict? No.”
Luxembourg Foreign Minister Xavier Bettel said the EU remains
uncommitted to any military action.
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European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas speaks with the
media as she arrives for a meeting of EU foreign ministers at the
European Council building in Brussels, Monday, March 16, 2026. (AP
Photo/Virginia Mayo)
“The fact is, for the moment, the EU is not directly part of the
situation. So we need to decide if we are going to be part or not.
That’s an important decision," Bettel said.
Operation Aspides was formed to thwart attacks to shipping in the
Red Sea by Somali pirates and Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who
have yet to join the current fray. Saudi Aramco manages a pipeline
network that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz to deliver oil to the Red
Sea port city of Yanbu.
“If we want to have security in this region, then it would be
easiest to actually already use the operation that we have in the
region and maybe change a bit,” Kallas she said. “There is also talk
of coalition of the willing in this regard, but we also need to see
what could be the fastest to provide this opening for the Strait of
Hormuz, but of course, as you can see, it’s not easy.”
The EU is anxious that a potential refugee crisis in Iran will
develop if the war continues.
“Although for now, the conflict has not translated into immediate
migratory flows toward the EU, what the future holds remains unclear
and necessitates the full mobilization of every migration diplomacy
tool we have at our disposal,” said European Commission President
Ursula von der Leyen in a statement Sunday.
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