Europe Rejects Trump's Call to Deploy Warships to Strait of Hormuz

European leaders continue to reject US President Donald Trump’s demands to deploy warships to ensure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz. This rejection was expressed whilst EU foreign ministers gathered in Brussels to discuss surging oil prices during the US-Israel conflict against Iran.

Germany is among EU member states expressing scepticism towards Trump’s proposal. “What does Trump expect a few European frigates to accomplish in the Strait of Hormuz that the powerful US Navy cannot?” German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said in Berlin, according to Al Jazeera. “This is not our war. We did not start it.”

Notably, Donald Trump has repeatedly belittled European military contributions to NATO. In January, he infuriated many European leaders by stating that NATO allied forces “play it safe” by allowing the US to advance to the front lines in the Afghanistan war. Trump also stated last year that he wanted to annex Greenland from Denmark and that European forces could not stop him.

German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul on Monday reaffirmed that Berlin does not intend to join military operations during the conflict. “We expect the US and Israel to inform us, involve us in what they are doing there, and inform us whether their objectives of attacking Iran have been achieved,” he told journalists before the Brussels meeting.

“Once we have a clear picture of this, we are convinced that we need to move to the next phase, namely defining a security architecture for this entire region, together with neighbouring countries,” he said.

Wadephul added that NATO has not made any decisions regarding responsibility in the Strait of Hormuz after Trump on Sunday called for a maritime coalition to deploy warships to secure the vital Gulf waterway, which serves as a transit route for approximately one-fifth of global oil shipments.

The Strait of Hormuz has been effectively closed by Iran in retaliation for American and Israeli deadly strikes across Iran since 28 February. Iran responded by firing missiles and drones across the Middle East, shaking global energy markets.