The military operation demanded by Trump does not get the green light from Europe

President of the United States Donald Trump presented a demand over the weekend, in which he demanded allied countries to help in opening the Strait of Hormuz. Trump warned that if allies do not come to the aid of the United States, it portends a bad future for the defense alliance NATO.

Foreign minister Elina Valtonen (kok) said after the foreign ministers’ meeting held in Brussels on Monday that he does not believe that the United States will withdraw from NATO despite Trump’s threats.

“On the contrary. NATO also protects the nuclear interests of the United States, and the United States is committed in every possible way not only to the existence of NATO, but also to Article Vito,” Valtonen assured.

“His (Trump’s) way of conducting discussions is of course more cutting-edge than what we may have been used to in the case of US presidents,” Valtonen continued.

However, the Minister of Foreign Affairs believed that a solution to the problem could be found.

NATO is not a party

Valtonen said that Finland, together with its partners and allies, is considering possible actions that could be organized to secure the Strait of Hormuz. However, the foreign minister reminded that NATO is not a party to the Iran war.

“NATO is a defense alliance and does not start wars.”

According to Valtonen, NATO should focus on the security of the North Atlantic.

At the same time, he emphasized that Finland’s priority is comprehensively securing NATO and especially taking care of the Baltic Sea region.

According to Valtonen, Finland does not yet have a final position on participating in any security measures.

The other European NATO countries also reacted quite cautiously to the United States’ requests to discuss possible support for opening traffic in the Strait of Hormuz.

Polish Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski said that if NATO formally asks for talks, Poland is ready to consider the matter.

Also the foreign minister of Estonia Margus Tsahkna said the union is open to negotiations.

On the other hand, for example, the foreign minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel was skeptical about NATO’s participation. He also said that Luxembourg will not submit to Trump’s “blackmail”.

America in trouble?

Valtonen said that the foreign ministers had an extensive discussion about the Strait of Hormuz.

“It is very possible that the United States, which together with Israel now started a war against Iran, will not be able to break away from it so easily,” Valtonen estimates.

According to the foreign minister, the allies are now discussing different options for possible security measures in the area.

One option has been the expansion of the Aspides operation, in which Finland is currently involved with staff officers.

High representative of the EU’s foreign and security policy Kaja Kalla still considered it possible on Monday morning that the EU’s current Aspides sea operation would be expanded to the Strait of Hormuz.

Aspides was founded in 2024 to protect maritime traffic in the Red Sea from attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.

However, many European countries reject the idea: for example, Germany, Italy, Greece and Spain opposed the expansion of the Aspides operation.

France, on the other hand, has previously said that it is preparing a possible international operation that could escort ships through the strait, but it could only happen when conditions permit.

Kallas said at his press conference on Monday evening that the EU countries hoped to strengthen the Aspides operation, but the transfer of the operation’s mandate to the Strait of Hormuz did not receive support from the EU member states.

Added to the story at 18:53. information from Kallas’ Monday evening press conference.