European leaders have gathered in Brussels to demand an end to attacks by armed groups backed by Iran, including Yemen's Houthi movement, whose assaults on commercial shipping have threatened security in the Red Sea. The EU has deployed a naval mission to help protect vessels, while its leaders continue calling for restraint, regional stability and respect for international law. Apparently, heavily armed militias are expected to reconsider their military strategies after receiving a strongly worded document from Belgium.
The European Council's conclusions contain carefully negotiated demands, urgent warnings and expressions of deep concern. One imagines Houthi commanders interrupting missile preparations to discuss whether paragraph seven adequately reflects their commitment to maritime security.
It is a magnificent spectacle: dozens of European leaders arriving in armoured motorcades, surrounded by security personnel, to agree that people firing missiles should really consider stopping. The naval mission provides practical protection, but diplomatic declarations cannot guarantee that attacks will end. Brussels nevertheless continues producing them with the determination of a printer that nobody knows how to switch off.
Somewhere in the Red Sea, another ship faces a genuine military threat. And somewhere in Brussels, a committee is deciding whether the situation requires the words "strongly condemn" or the considerably more terrifying "condemn in the strongest possible terms".