Europe refuses to send warships to Hormuz despite Trump's demands

2026-03-16 - 12:47

The Strait of Hormuz became a new front in the transatlantic dispute on Monday. Despite President Donald Trump's explicit demand that NATO allies send warships to reopen the blocked oil route, according to Reuters, Europe replied with a sharp "no." British Prime Minister Keir Starmer made clear at a press conference on Monday that the United Kingdom would not be dragged into "a wider war," and sharply implied that the American administration had so far acted without any coherent plan. "If we are sending our forces into harm's way, the minimum they deserve is to know there is a legal basis and a clear plan," Starmer said. He then took a pointed swipe at Trump, adding, "Some would rush into war without the full picture. That's not leadership – that's being dragged." Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer delivers a speech inside 10 Downing Street, in central London, on October 2, 2025 (Photo by James Manning/ AFP) The reaction in Berlin was even cooler. In response to Trump's threats about NATO's future if allies failed to assist, German government spokesman Steffen Kornelius was unequivocal. "This is not a NATO war and has nothing whatsoever to do with NATO," he said. Germany also reminded the White House that the US and Israel had not bothered to consult Berlin before launching the military campaign, and that Washington had initially declared European assistance "unnecessary and unwelcome." "I genuinely don't know what to say about 'formal requests' for help in this context," the spokesman added. The rest of Europe's major powers drew their own red lines. Greek government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis announced that Athens would not participate in any military operation in the Strait of Hormuz, limiting its involvement to the existing "Aspides" mission for ship protection in the Red Sea. Italy's foreign minister stressed that diplomacy was the only path to resolving the situation, noting he saw no existing naval mission that could be extended into the Strait of Hormuz. A tanker sails in the Gulf, near the Strait of Hormuz, as seen from northern Ras al-Khaimah, near the border with Oman’s Musandam governance, amid the US-Israeli conflict with Iran, in United Arab Emirates, March 11, 2026 (Photo: REUTERS/Stringer) Dutch Foreign Minister Brandsen warned that sending NATO warships would not resolve the problem overnight and could trigger a dangerous escalation – though he did not rule out future involvement after a more thorough review. While Europe and the US traded barbs, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi moved to exploit the momentum and ratchet up pressure. "As far as we are concerned, the strait is open," he said in Tehran on Monday. "It is closed only to those enemies who carried out unjust aggression against our country, and to their allies."