The European Union and Australia have concluded talks on a free trade deal that could boost export volumes by as much as one third, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced in Canberra. Von der Leyen shook hands on the agreement with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese Tuesday, on the second of her three-day visit to Australia — finally sealing the accord after a previous attempt collapsed amid acrimony in 2023.  The Commission president told the Australian parliament the trade deal was necessary to build resilience to economic shocks.  “None of us is immune to the shocks, both geopolitical and economic, that the war in Iran brings to our populations,” von der Leyen said. Von der Leyen told the special parliamentary sitting of MPs and senators — she was the first woman to address a joint sitting in Australian history — that the deal would send a message that “when it comes to trade, Europe is open for business.”  “We are rearming. We are decarbonizing. We are preparing. We are becoming an independent Europe. And this means a more outward Europe. And this is why I am here today. Because showing up matters,” she said.  With U.S. President Donald Trump slamming tariffs on allies globally, Brussels and Canberra rekindled their negotiations last year. EU Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič, who was in Canberra for the signing of the free-trade deal, stressed both countries’ commitment to a rules-based world order when he briefed journalists on Monday ahead of the final talks. “We are sending a strong signal that we prefer a low tariff — or in this case: no tariffs — and that we want to work on rules-based mechanisms,” Šefčovič said. Sensitive market access for Australian beef and sheep meat, plus sugar, rice and some dairy was the last point of discussion.  The two sides are believed to have agreed that Australia will be able to export between 30,000 and 35,000 tonnes of beef to Europe a year, up from the current 3,389 tons. Brussels had held firm to 30,000 metric tons during talks in recent weeks. In an earlier joint press conference, Albanese also suggested that Australia had extracted some concessions from the EU on the issue of geographic indicators, which could enable Australian producers to continue using names including feta, halloumi and Parmesan.  The issue was politically sensitive, with Australia’s European communities arguing they should be allowed to continue producing their food products under their original names.  “Whether it’s Greeks coming here and creating feta, or Italians coming and doing Parmesan [cheese], or people from Eastern Europe doing Kransky sausages … It’s a connection with Europe. It’s part of our strength,” Albanese said.   Australia will agree to protect the names of 165 European food products and 237 spirits. The two sides also agreed to modernize an existing wine agreement, which covers 50 new ones and includes — in a win for Brussels — prosecco as well.  Coming just two months after the EU signed a deal with the Latin-American Mercosur bloc — also a major beef producer — the Australian agreement is meant to deliver benefits for farmers, Šefčovič said.  “I believe that we are bringing very good news to our farmers,” he said, arguing that wine, sparkling wine, chocolate, sugar, confectionery, ice cream, some fruits and vegetables and many processed agricultural products will all “go down to zero from Day 1.” Cheeses, which are more sensitive for the Australians, will see tariffs phased out in three years. The trade chief also underlined EU agrifood exports to Australia already enjoy a surplus of €2.3 billion.  EU exports to Australia totalled €37 billion in goods and €28 billion in services in 2024, with the deal set to eliminate tariffs on almost all EU goods and many services. The agreement could boost that by one third in 10 years, the Commission estimates. A major win for the EU will be easier access to Australia’s natural resource wealth and incentives for European investments for Australian mining and refining. “Australia has almost all the critical minerals we need,” Šefčovič said. Speaking of the EU’s need for critical minerals, von der Leyen told lawmakers that a new partnership with Australia would be “crucial” to the EU, which ran the risk of becoming over-dependent on Chinese supplies. “That is precisely why we need each other,” she said.  Brussels also won a pledge from Australia to raise the threshold for its luxury car tax by almost 50 percent. Canberra currently charges a 33 percent levy on foreign-made cars above A$80,000 (or A$92,000 for a fuel-efficient one). Šefčovič said that will rise to A$120,000.  Koen Verhelst reported from Brussels; James Panichi reported from Melbourne.

BRUSSELS — America’s ambassador to the EU called on the European Parliament to back the trade deal struck with President Donald Trump, arguing it would unlock deeper transtlantic cooperation on energy, tech and AI. Speaking to POLITICO on Monday, Andrew Puzder cautioned that it would be a mistake to allow a further delay of the deal reached last July at Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland, but has still to be implemented on by the EU side. “All of the signals are good, but you never know. We’re hopeful, but we want to be careful and make sure that we don’t take anything for granted,” Puzder said in an interview at the U.S. mission in Brussels.  “It’s in the best interest of the European Union and the United States that it passes,” he added. “Some people might think that politically, it might give them an advantage to vote against. I hope that’s not the case. But economically, it’d be malpractice not to vote for this in the EU.” Puzder highlighted the importance of the EU’s commitment to spend $750 billion on U.S. energy under the Turnberry deal.  “Europe’s going to need that energy,” he said. “So we need to cut back on the regulatory restrictions to our shipping them the energy and also the regulatory restrictions that make that energy more expensive once it gets here.” IT’S BEEN LONG ENOUGH Puzder, a former fast food executive nominated by Trump, started the role last September and made an early impression in Brussels with his plain speaking. He told POLITICO in December that the EU should stop trying to be the world’s regulator and get on instead with being one of its innovators.  His latest remarks came amid mounting U.S. frustration over the EU’s slow pace in keeping its side of the bargain, under which it would scrap import duties on U.S. industrial goods. The enabling legislation is now up for a plenary vote in the European Parliament on Thursday. If it passes, talks between EU lawmakers, governments and the Commission would then begin on finally implementing the tariff changes. “We’re anxious to get this through the process. We understood they had to go through a process, but it’s been long enough. And hopefully we’ll get through it on Thursday and we can both move on to more economically beneficial endeavors,” Puzder stressed.  Trade lawmakers backed amendments at the committee stage to strengthen the EU’s protections in case Washington doesn’t respect its side of the deal.  They for instance introduced a suspension clause if Trump threatens the EU’s territorial sovereignty, as he did earlier this year when he pushed to annex Greenland. MEPs also added another provision that foresees that the deal would expire in March 2028.  Puzder declined to speculate on whether the deal could unravel altogether if the U.S. president were to launch any renewed threats.  “I hate to prejudge where this is going to go,” he said. “What everybody’s been saying on both sides is a deal is a deal. We had a deal; hopefully we still have a deal.” The ambassador stressed there had been a “very good two-way communication” between Trump’s team of Trade Representative Jamieson Greer and Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, and the European Commission, as well as with Bernd Lange, who chairs the European Parliament’s Trade Committee.   “I’ve also had a number of meetings with Bernd Lange and members of parliament on these issues. So the communication has been very good and very open throughout this process,” Puzder said.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday threatened to send federal immigration agents to airports across the country on Monday if Democrats don’t agree to end the Department of Homeland Security shutdown, now approaching five weeks. “If the Radical Left Democrats don’t immediately sign an agreement to let our Country, in particular, our Airports, be FREE and SAFE again, I will move our brilliant and patriotic ICE Agents to the Airports where they will do Security like no one has ever seen before, including the immediate arrest of all Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country,” he wrote. “Illegal Immigrants who have come into our Country, with heavy emphasis on those from Somalia” would be targeted with an especially firm hand, the president wrote on Truth Social. Shortly thereafter, Trump followed up to say he plans to send ICE to airports in just days. “I look forward to moving ICE in on Monday, and have already told them to, ‘GET READY.’ NO MORE WAITING, NO MORE GAMES!” he wrote in a separate Truth Social post on Saturday. It’s his latest bid to push Democrats, who have refused to greenlight DHS funding without changes to how it carries out immigration enforcement, pointing to deadly incidents as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents descended en masse on major American cities. Increased callouts among TSA agents and airport staffers are expected to roil airports in the coming weeks, with major interruptions to airport procedure likely to follow. Both sides have seemingly made progress in recent days toward ending the shutdown. The White House made several concessions on immigration enforcement policies in a proposal shared with Senate Democrats on Friday. But the ICE agent masking ban Democrats are seeking in exchange for their support on a funding package remains a bridge too far, Republicans argue. Trump’s latest threat isn’t likely to make the prospects of a truce any more viable, especially given his focus on Minnesota, where tensions flared after federal immigration agents killed two protesters during a major surge of personnel in January. In a post on X following Trump’s threat, Rep. Lauren Boebert said, “The airport in Minnesota is about to be a ghost town.” The president’s threat Saturday lands squarely in the middle of a confirmation fight over his pick to run DHS, Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-Okla.), a process that has quickly become a proxy battle over the future of ICE itself. At his hearing this week, Mullin tried to strike a more measured tone than in some of his past remarks, pledging to rein in some enforcement tactics and lower the agency’s public profile. But he repeatedly defended ICE agents amid mounting scrutiny, including backing officers involved in high-profile civilian deaths and arguing Democrats are tying the agency’s hands. Republicans — including Mullin — have instead pushed to expand ICE’s resources and authority, framing the standoff as a fight over public safety. The backdrop is the messy ouster of Kristi Noem, whose tenure was defined by aggressive deportation policies, costly PR campaigns and a series of controversies that ultimately led Trump to push her out after a bruising round of congressional hearings. The enforcement-heavy approach Trump threatened Saturday sets up a preview for what Mullin will perhaps be asked to defend — and potentially formalize — as the next head of DHS. ICE and the Transportation Security Administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment from POLITICO.

President Donald Trump lashed out at America’s NATO allies again on Friday, raging at their refusal to join the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and help reopen the Strait of Hormuz. “Without the U.S.A., NATO IS A PAPER TIGER!” the U.S. leader wrote on his Truth Social site, accusing allies of first sitting out the fight against a “Nuclear Powered Iran,” and then “complain[ing] about the high oil prices they are forced to pay.” The solution would be to open the Strait of Hormuz, Trump wrote, “a simple military maneuver … with so little risk,” but allies “don’t want to help.” “COWARDS,” he concluded. “[W]e will REMEMBER!” The outburst came following Thursday’s European Council, where national leaders struck a cautious tone in emphasizing de-escalation and resisting involvement in a conflict with no apparent end in sight. Spain’s PM Pedro Sánchez even described the war as illegal — underscoring the size of the breach with Washington. Since the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28, France, Germany, Italy and the U.K. have resisted sending warships to the Gulf. On Thursday they backed a joint statement with partners Japan and Canada supporting “appropriate efforts” to ensure safe passage through Hormuz — but only once the fighting stops, as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz stressed. French President Emmanuel Macron is sounding out allies on a potential U.N.-backed framework to secure shipping, while NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said he remains “confident” that the allies will find a way to restore traffic through the chokepoint. Trump’s attack follows days of mounting pressure on Washington, both military and economic. Earlier this week he warned NATO allies that they face a “very bad future” if they fail to help open the Strait of Hormuz, and in January mocked allies for allegedly shying away from the toughest fighting over a decade ago in their joint mission in Afghanistan. “They’ll say they sent some troops to Afghanistan,” Trump told Fox news on Jan. 22. “And they did, they stayed a little back, a little off the front lines.” At the time, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer called the remarks “insulting and, frankly, appalling.”

BRUSSELS — NATO chief Mark Rutte on Thursday said he was “confident” allies would find a way to restart traffic through the Strait of Hormuz blocked by Iran after it was attacked by the U.S. and Israel. “Allies … are intensely discussing amongst each other [and] with the United States … the best way forward to tackle this huge security issue,” Rutte told reporters in Brussels. “I’m confident that allies as always will do everything in support of our shared interest as we always do — so we will find a way forward.” The U.S. president has called on European partners to help secure the trade artery — a request most have flatly rejected. As a result, Donald Trump has slammed NATO allies, warning he could reconsider the U.S. role in the alliance, even while some members like Estonia have volunteered equipment. On Tuesday, the U.S. president claimed he no longer needed European support for the operation. Rutte, who has previously come under fire for claiming Trump’s war has “widespread support” among allies, on Thursday again praised the U.S. for weakening Iran’s military, including its ballistic missile and potential nuclear capabilities. “What the U.S. is doing at the moment is degrading that capability of Iran and I think that’s very important,” he said. “This is important for European security, for the Middle East, it is vital for Israel itself.”

BRUSSELS — The Trump administration has reassured the EU’s top trade lawmaker that it plans to shorten a list of items containing steel that are subject to high U.S. tariffs, in a concession that could finally persuade the European Parliament to back last year’s transatlantic trade deal.  The offer came in a call between U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer with Bernd Lange, the chair of the European Parliament’s Trade Committee. It has helped win the support of Lange’s fellow socialists, enabling a key committee vote to go ahead on Thursday. But the fix is not yet fully in, with caucus leaders still to debate exactly when to schedule a final plenary vote on the accord reached at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf club in Scotland last July. One sticking point has been the subsequent addition by Washington of hundreds of items that contain steel — from cranes to furniture — to a list of products subject to a 50 percent U.S. tariff. That, in the view of the Europeans, violates the spirit of the Turnberry accord.  In their call last Saturday, Greer assured Lange that many of these items would go, said the German MEP, who is also steering the enabling legislation on the deal.  “Not everything, but a lot of them,” Lange told POLITICO’s Morning Trade newsletter, saying that there was “some movement” on that front. The enabling legislation, which would remove tariffs on U.S. industrial goods, has been stalled for weeks in the EU chamber, as lawmakers balked at approving a deal following the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision last month to strike down President Donald Trump’s original tariffs. The Turnberry deal had set an “all-inclusive” tariff of 15 percent on most goods. Trump quickly replaced that with a temporary 10 percent global duty. With Trump’s threats to annex Greenland, cut off all trade with Spain, and his military campaign against Iran further undermining any vestigial confidence on the part of EU lawmakers that he will abide by his commitments, the path to final approval of the Turnberry accord is both rocky and narrow. NOT THE END OF THE ROAD  The next hurdle is holding a final plenary vote on the Turnberry deal, with political groups in the European Parliament still divided.  Lange’s Socialists & Democrats, the Left, Greens and Renew are in favor of scheduling it in April, arguing they still require clarity from Washington. The center-right, pro-business European People’s Party (EPP) is pushing to hold it next week, as currently scheduled.  A decision is expected this week. Political group chairs representing a majority of MEPs would be needed to change the plenary agenda. “We need to finish this in March because then we would have much more certainty for everything. We have promises from the White House on steel and aluminum derivatives,” said Željana Zovko, the EPP top negotiator on the file. Lange is meanwhile due to fly — after the Trade Committee vote on Thursday — to Washington and is expected to meet with Greer.  Only after the text is approved by the plenary can the European Parliament enter negotiations with EU capitals and the European Commission on a compromise to finally implement the deal. BEYOND EU  People close to the White House say officials have spent weeks exploring ways to streamline how the U.S. steel tariffs apply to downstream products that hit the EU and other trading partners, following industry pushback after the list of steel and aluminum derivatives expanded to cover hundreds of items last year.  The exchange between Greer and Lange marks the clearest signal yet that the administration may adjust its approach to derivatives tariffs — changes that could extend well beyond the EU.  But the Trump administration has not publicly confirmed any changes, or clarified what that plan would entail.  “We are always examining ways to ensure our sectoral tariffs are most effectively safeguarding our country’s national and economic security, but unless announced by the Administration, discussion about tariff or derivative adjustments is baseless speculation,” said a White House official.  Camille Gijs reported from Brussels and Ari Hawkins reported from Washington. Max Griera contributed to this report. 

BRUSSELS — The European Union and Australia are expected to conclude talks on a long-awaited trade deal early next week, with Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday announcing she would visit from March 23-25.  Von der Leyen will meet Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra, according to a Commission statement. Trade Commissioner Maroš Šefčovič is also expected to join the trip, although planning might yet change due to flight disruptions in the Middle East. Albanese confirmed the visit, saying in a statement that he would meet both von der Leyen and Šefčovič on March 24. Brussels and Canberra relaunched trade negotiations after Donald Trump’s return to the White House last year. They had collapsed amid acrimony at the end of 2023 amid disagreements over quotas on beef and lamb. The breakthrough comes as the EU looks to get closer to the Pacific-centered CPTPP trade bloc through its deepening bonds with Australia. In a letter to EU leaders shared Monday, von der Leyen said the EU and Australia were in “the final stretch towards concluding” their trade agreement.  “In addition to removing trade barriers, it will also facilitate access to critical raw materials — such as lithium, cobalt, rare earth elements, and hydrogen — and strengthen Europe’s presence in one of the world’s most dynamic economic regions,” she wrote, as part of a list on the Commission’s efforts to boost competitiveness. Negotiators had grappled in the home stretch to close the gap on access for Australian beef and lamb to the European market; EU trade protections on specialty foods; critical minerals; and an Australian tax on luxury cars. Canberra and Brussels are also looking to seal a security and defense partnership, which is finalized.  The EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas, who would be signing the defense deal, known as Security and Defense Partnership, is however not expected to be part of the trip. The pace would come on the heels of similar partnerships signed with the U.K., Canada and most recently India. Speaking last week at at the annual gathering of diplomats with the External Action Service, the EU’s diplomatic body, Kallas said that the deal was coming as she announced that “later this week, I will sign the tenth [SDP] with Australia and subsequent ones with Iceland and Ghana in the coming days.”     James Panichi, Zoya Sheftalovich, Sebastian Starcevic and Nette Nöstlinger contributed reporting.

BRUSSELS — The European Parliament will hold a committee vote on the EU-U.S. trade deal this week, top lawmakers decided on Tuesday, in a step that will be met with relief in Washington.  Lawmakers from the Parliament’s trade committee will vote on Thursday on legislation to scrap tariffs on U.S. industrial goods — representing the backbone of the EU’s pledge in the trade deal reached at President Donald Trump’s Turnberry golf resort in Scotland last summer. Bernd Lange, chair of the trade committee, said Tuesday’s discussion had been “quite smooth” and had achieved a broad understanding. “Therefore we will go for the vote on Thursday,” he told POLITICO. The decision unblocks a weeks-long deadlock, as EU lawmakers balked at approving a deal that appeared at risk of unraveling. First, the U.S. Supreme Court in February struck down most of the tariffs on which the Turnberry accord was based. Then Trump’s threats to annex Greenland and slap an embargo on Spain further soured sentiment. Lawmakers from Socialists & Democrats, liberals and Greens have pushed for reassurances from Washington before moving to a vote, while the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) is adamant that the deal must be approved quickly to avoid retaliation by Trump and bring stability to businesses. “We have a big majority today,” said EPP negotiator Željana Zovko.  A date for a final plenary vote will be determined on Wednesday, said Lange, adding that this could take place in March or April. Only then would the European Parliament enter negotiations with EU capitals and the European Commission on a compromise that would finally implement the deal.  Lange, a veteran German Social Democrat who is also the lead lawmaker on the file, proposed new amendments to the legislation that won the backing of the EPP. He has said that his changes mainly included stronger language on the EU’s own protections in case Washington fails to keep its side of the deal. “Sunrise clause, and sunset, and suspension, and so on, some fine-tuning,” Lange had told POLITICO on Monday.  Lange will travel to Washington after the vote on Thursday, and is expected to meet Trade Representative Jamieson Greer on Friday, along with a delegation of EU lawmakers.

BRUSSELS — Europe’s message to Donald Trump on Monday was clear: We’re not helping you secure the Strait of Hormuz.  Foreign ministers from the 27 EU countries gathered in Brussels to discuss the American president’s call for European countries to help secure the narrow waterway, a vital oil shipping channel that Iran has largely blocked in retaliation for U.S. and Israeli airstrikes. Among the ideas floated was expanding the mandate of the EU’s naval mission — Aspides — to allow European warships to be sent to patrol the strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. But after hours of closed-door talks about the war in Iran, Europe’s foreign envoys made clear they see this as America’s problem to solve. “Europe has no interest in an open-ended war,” EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday evening after the meeting. “This is not Europe’s war, but Europe’s interests are directly at stake.” Although there was a “clear wish” among ministers “to strengthen” the EU’s naval mission in the Middle East, “there was no appetite in changing the mandate,” Kallas said, referring to sending warships to the strait. “Extending this mandate to cover the Strait of Hormuz … there was no appetite from the member states to do that,” she repeated. “Nobody wants to go actively in this war.” RESPECT, PLEASE Trump told the Financial Times at the weekend it would be “very bad for the future of NATO” if European countries failed to respond to his call for help. He wrote on social media that he was in contact with seven countries about securing the strait, without naming which countries he was referring to. And on Monday, Trump told reporters that he was confident France would assist the U.S. “I think he’s gonna help. I mean, I’ll let you know, I spoke to him yesterday,” the American president said, referring to his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron. Trump also said he was “not happy” with the response from the U.K. and “very surprised” after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he would not be drawn into a “wider war” over Iran. Trump was adamant that “we don’t need anybody” and “we’re the strongest nation in the world,” but his request for assistance was a test of solidarity, to see how European countries would react, as Iran’s closure of the strait drives up oil prices. “I’ve been saying for years that if we ever did need them, they won’t be there,” the U.S. president said. European capitals clearly don’t want to get involved, though — and wish Trump would stop asking. “The Americans chose this path, together with the Israelis,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said. | Britta Pedersen/picture alliance via Getty Images “The Americans chose this path, together with the Israelis,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, adding that Germany’s main responsibility was to defend NATO territory. “We did not start this war,” Pistorius stressed. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also poured scorn on the idea of committing Berlin to the conflict, triggered when the U.S. and Israel launched strikes on Tehran on Feb. 28 and killed the Iranian supreme leader. “NATO is a defensive alliance, not an interventionist one. And that is precisely why NATO has no place here at all,” Merz said. “I hope that we will treat one another with the necessary respect within the alliance,” Merz added, in an apparent rebuke to Trump’s grousing. Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel went even further, stressing his country would not give in to “blackmail” from Washington. “Don’t ask us” to send troops, Bettel told reporters in Brussels. NOT EUROPE’S WAR U.S. ambassador to NATO Matthew Whitaker on Monday reiterated Trump’s call for allies to support the war in Iran, given they import limited volumes of oil from the Gulf region. “Ultimately that security of the Strait of Hormuz is in their interest,” he said. Trump “is absolutely right to suggest that our allies need to come, need to help us and support our efforts,” Whitaker added. The Strait of Hormuz, through which about one-fifth of the world’s oil is transported, remains effectively closed due to Iran’s threats to shipping, causing the price of a barrel of oil to surge past the $100 mark last week. Yet a full NATO mission in Iran remains improbable for now, according to four NATO diplomats who spoke to POLITICO, both because it’s unlikely to receive the necessary unanimous backing from allies and since it would add little compared to more rapid bilateral support allies could muster for the U.S. The diplomats were granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive security matter. So far, the U.S. hasn’t formally asked NATO countries for support as part of the alliance’s framework, two of the diplomats said. But “some allies won’t be steered into involvement there,” one of the diplomats said. “Plus, it’s not directly NATO’s area of responsibility.” That point was repeatedly underscored by Kallas and other top officials on Monday. “Europe is not part of this war. We have not started this war,” she said. “And the political objectives are unclear.” The EU’s leaders are holding a summit Thursday, and an early draft of the conclusions obtained by POLITICO, dated March 13, which has been worked on by national diplomats and will go through several revisions, says leaders will call for “deescalation and maximum restraint” in Iran and the wider region. Nicholas Vinocur and Rixa Fürsen contributed to this report.

The EU is exploring options to protect the Strait of Hormuz including by changing the mandate of its naval missions in the region, top EU diplomat Kaja Kallas said Monday after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened NATO allies if they don’t help. But some EU states are already pushing back, with Luxembourg’s Deputy Prime Minister Xavier Bettel saying that his country would not give in to “blackmail” from the United States to participate in the Iran war. “With satellites, with communications, we are very happy to be useful. But don’t ask us with troops and with machines,” Bettel, who is also foreign minister, said on his way into a gathering of foreign envoys in Brussels on Monday. “Blackmail is also not what I wish for,” Bettel added. The EU is under growing pressure from Washington to help secure freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, with Trump telling the Financial Times over the weekend that it would “very bad for the future of NATO” if European allies fail to respond to his appeals or refuse to participate. “It is in our interest to keep the Strait of Hormuz open,” Kallas told journalists. “That’s why we are also discussing what we can do from the EU side. We have been in touch with the U.S. on many levels, but of course the situation is very volatile.” Among the options, Kallas said she was discussing with United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres whether the U.N. and the EU could work together on a plan to secure navigation through the strait, a vital artery for trade through which 20 percent of the world’s oil transits. The mission could echo the Black Sea Grain Initiative between Turkey, Russia, Ukraine and the U.N. to allow Ukrainian crops to be safely exported despite an ongoing war, she added. ASPIDES AND ATALANTA Kallas also said that EU foreign ministers would look into changing the mandate of two ongoing EU-backed naval protection missions — Operations Aspides and Atalanta — so that they could help to open the Strait of Hormuz. Currently those missions — originally conceived to protect EU commercial vessels from attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen — are not operating in the strait and are bound by rules of engagement that would limit their effectiveness, a senior EU diplomat said. “We will discuss with the member states whether it’s possible to really change the mandate of this mission,” said Kallas. “We have proposals on the table … The point is whether the member states are willing to use this mission.” “If the member states are not doing anything with this then of course it’s their decision, but we have to discuss to show we help to keep the Strait of Hormuz open,” Kallas said. In her remarks, Kallas blasted Trump’s decision to lift sanctions on Russian oil exports as a “dangerous precedent,” saying it was important that the ongoing war in the Middle East did not overshadow Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Washington lifted the sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil exports for one month to alleviate pressure on global oil markets amid a surge in the price of oil to more than $100 per barrel following the attacks on Iran. Even so, the top EU diplomat underscored European efforts to help clear the Strait of Hormuz. Another possibility, she said, was to use a so-called coalition of the willing to secure the strait. This refers to a group of countries rather than the entire 27-member bloc. “But of course you can see it’s difficult,” she said.  Indeed, no sooner had Kallas spoken than EU foreign ministers started pouring cold water on the idea of joining any mission to clear the strait, with Romania’s foreign minister arguing that NATO was a defensive alliance that had no immediate duty to act in the Middle Eastern war. Milena Wälde contributed to this report.