Italy can take credit for the creation of the European Union's new Aspides naval mission it will lead in the Red Sea region because it pushed the hardest to protect merchant shipping and trade via the key waterway, foreign minister Antonio Tajani stated on Monday.
"The establishment of the Aspides naval mission is 'an Italian success'," said after a Forieign Affairs Council ministerial meeting in Brussels.
"This is because our country was the one that more than any other insisted on having a European military mission to protect merchant traffic in (the) Suez (Canal) and the Red Sea, to protect our exports," he said.
In addition to Italy, France, Germany, Romania and Albania also intend to take part in the Aspides mission, which will be headquartered in Larissa, Greece, Tajani stated.
"Our ships will be guaranteed (security) on their journey by the presence of our navy and the European mission," Tajani concluded.
Tajani earlier on Monday tweeted that the Foreign Affairs Council has backed the Aspides mission at a meeting in Brussels. It is understood the mission is to begin in a matter of weeks and will deploy four frigates.
