The High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced on Tuesday 25 January that he would propose on 22 February a coordinated maritime presence in the Indo-Pacific region, like the one the EU has in the Gulf of Guinea.
“We are thinking of increasing the presence in the Indo-Pacific and at the next meeting of the French Presidency (of the EU Council) in Paris, we will table a proposal to declare the southern part of the Indo-Pacific an area of special interest for naval deployment”, he told the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Sub-Committee on Security and Defence.
The French Presidency of the Council of the EU is organising a ministerial forum for cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region on 22 February in Paris, with round tables on security and defence, connectivity and digital technology and global issues (climate, biodiversity and health).
According to a document obtained by EUROPE, dated 19 January, the European External Action Service proposes that this coordinated maritime presence should be located in the north-west of the Indian Ocean, “an area which presents many challenges in terms of maritime security and which is of particular importance for the protection of EU interests”, notably because it is an important trade route.
“The north-west of the Indian Ocean area of maritime interest would strengthen the EU’s role in the development of the regional maritime security architecture, as it is uniquely placed to develop a reliable link between three regions, the Strait of Hormuz, the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea”, the EEAS says.
According to EEAS, the area would be geographically defined on the basis of existing areas of operations: the EU’s CSDP operation Atalanta and operation AGENOR and would cover the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden, the entrance to the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Sea and part of the Indian Ocean, according to a map presented in the EEAS document. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)