On Wednesday 31 January, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, announced that the aim was to launch the EU mission to protect merchant ships in the Red Sea, known as Aspides - which means ‘protection’ - “by 19 February at the latest”, which is the date of a Foreign Affairs Council meeting.
At the end of the informal meeting of European defence ministers in Brussels, Mr Borrell explained that the aim of the mission would be to...