Defence Minister Guido Crosetto said Thursday that Italy was willing to go it alone with military operations to ensure its ships can pass the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which Yemen’s Houthi rebels have made significant advances around.

“Together with the Chief of Staff, we have decided not to wait for (EU’s Red Sea operation) Aspides to decide whether ships can pass or not,” Crosetto said at the Risorsa Mare Forum in La Spezia.

“We will likely take action so that Italian ships can begin passing through (the Bab el-Mandeb Strait) without waiting for European bureaucracy to compound our own, because delaying action in cases like this equals holding back the economy and exacerbating problems.

“When we can, we intervene to alleviate crises”.