Europe’s 35-Nation Push Stalls as Promised Hormuz Security Force Never Launches
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
Europe’s 35-Nation Push Stalls as Promised Hormuz Security Force Never Launches
3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 14
Summary
Months after Europe promised a maritime mission to the Strait of Hormuz, the force still has not deployed, leaving the bloc sidelined as U.S.-Iran hostilities flare again.
Renewed fighting has exposed Europe’s limited ability to protect its own commercial interests or guarantee shipping through the strait, despite plans to help reopen the route.
Paris highlighted a different show of strength on Bastille Day, with nearly 500 troops from 35 countries parading as part of the France-Britain-led “coalition of the willing” for Ukraine.
That contrast has turned Hormuz into a test of Europe’s strategic autonomy: it can project resolve on Ukraine, but has not translated talk into action in the Gulf.