Twenty-four hours. That's how long it took between the Paris conference organized on Friday, April 17, under the auspices of Emmanuel Macron and Keir Starmer, and the Iranian decision on Saturday to close the Strait of Hormuz, opening fire on merchant ships. Twenty-four hours during which European diplomacy briefly believed it could set its own pace. The awakening is harsh, and the sequence deserves attention, because it says a lot about the real state of European strategic autonomy – a political slogan used for ten years, but which still struggles to find its operational translation.
A right initiative, but too late
Let there be no mistake: the Franco-British initiative was relevant, even necessary. The absence of the United States, which refused to join a démarche deemed insufficiently offensive, created a void that Paris and London were right to want to fill. The format chosen – a thirty-person video conference, a "purely defensive" mission, no offensive dimension – was diplomatically astute. It respected the sensitivities of the Gulf, did not isolate Tehran, and offered a credible alternative to Washington's maximum pressure strategy. But the initiative arrived late, after several weeks of European dithering, and without any military assets ready to set sail the next morning.
The problem is not political, it is capability
The central difficulty has been known for twenty years: Europe alone does not have the naval projection and satellite intelligence capabilities necessary to permanently secure a strait like Hormuz. The French Navy has two frigates in the area, the Royal Navy one, and Italy and Spain a few complementary units. This makes, in total, the equivalent of half a Task Force – facing a state like Iran, which can mobilize dozens of fast boats, naval mines, and medium-range coastal batteries. A credible defensive deployment would require four to five times more resources, and an integrated command that does not exist.
Berlin, Rome, Madrid: where are they?
The video conference on April 17 showed, in its omissions, the scale of the absences. Germany, which relies heavily on the gas and oil transiting through the Gulf, did not take its own initiative. Italy, although directly exposed by its Mediterranean geography, remained discreet. Spain, which has a significant navy, did not announce any operational commitment. This collective silence is the real problem: as long as European defense relies solely on the Franco-British duo – now half outside the EU – the strategic autonomy project will remain a rhetorical flourish.
What this episode should teach us
The Hormuz episode is not a humiliation: it is a warning. It shows that diplomacy without credible military capability carries no weight against a determined actor like Tehran. It also shows that unity of intent is not enough if it is not backed by real operational integration – command chain, common rules of engagement, pooled funding, shared doctrine. Without this, every crisis will end with the same pattern: solemn European announcement, circumvention by the hostile actor, return to American protection. A dependence that Europeans have said they want to break free from since 2003.
Editorial opinion
The political courage of the Parisian initiative must be commended – committing one's word on such a volatile issue is never trivial. But the truth must also be told: without a massive acceleration of European military spending, without operational integration of national navies, and without sovereign satellite capabilities, these conferences will remain exercises in goodwill. Strategic autonomy is not decreed in a video conference; it is built in shipyards, intelligence centers, and multi-year budgets. Saturday, April 18's awakening must be an opportunity to finally cross this threshold.
Key takeaways
- Paris Conference of April 17, 2026: about thirty countries around Macron and Starmer.
- Twenty-four hours later, Iran closes Hormuz and fires on merchant ships.
- Europe alone does not have the necessary naval and satellite capabilities.
- Germany, Italy, and Spain remained on the sidelines, despite being directly exposed.
- European strategic autonomy requires operational integration and multi-year budgets.
