EU Red Sea operation HQ to be in Larissa

Greece, and the Hellenic European Union Operations Headquarters (EL EU OHQ) in particular, will be the headquarters of the EU operation for the safety of navigation in the Red Sea, after a relevant proposal by Defense Minister Nikos Dendias was accepted by his counterparts at the informal ministerial meeting of the EU in Brussels.

Operation Aspides, which means Protector, is a reflection of general Greek-French coordination, which was also exemplified by Wednesday's telephone communication between the two leaders of the countries' armed forces, Greece's Dimitrios Houpis and his French counterpart Thierry Burkhard.

In addition to the land-based command, which will be based at the Larissa headquarters, there will, as usual, be an on-board command with a heavier operational task.

The two main contenders for command at sea are France and Italy.

Aspides will...