France refused to support British and US airstrikes on Houthis

Eloise Fayet, a research fellow at the French Institute of International Relations,  agreed.

She said, “France is very insistent on the concept of acting as a balancing power and a third way. This stance is maintained by France and is therefore incompatible with such strikes, threats of strikes against the Houthis. For the moment, France prefers to stick to what it is already doing, namely operations to reassure and protect commercial vessels crossing the Red Sea.”

Italy said it was not asked to take part in the Anglo-American attacks  on Thursday night.

The government, led by Giorgia Meloni, the prime minister, said that even if a request had been made, it would have required a debate in parliament for military force to be authorised.

Mr Tajani, who is also deputy prime minister in the Meloni coalition, said Italy could not have participated at such short notice “because the constitution does not allow us to commit acts of war without a debate in parliament”.

However, a government source told Reuters that Rome had been asked to take part but refused because it preferred a “calming policy”.

Spain has no plans to join any mission to protect shipping from Houthi attacks in the Red Sea area and has appeared to distance itself from Washington’s approach to the problem.

The Left-wing government of Pedro Sánchez, the prime minister, has avoided involvement in any show of strength against the Houthis while publicly denying any rift with the US government.

But there have been signs of tension between Madrid and Washington.

Spain blocked anti-piracy proposal

In December 2023 Spain’s government was forced to deny that it was joining the Prosperity Guardian mission in the Red Sea after Washington officials had announced that the Spanish navy would be taking part.

Then, while still holding the rotating presidency of the EU Council until the end of 2023, Spain blocked a proposal by other European states to repurpose the union’s Atalanta anti-piracy mission in the Indian Ocean to address the Houthi threat. Spain is a major contributor of naval force to the mission, whose command centre is hosted at the Rota naval base in Andalusia.

Mr Sánchez has been one of the most outspoken critics of Israel’s military operation in Gaza, accusing the Israel Defence Forces of “causing unbearable and unacceptable suffering to civilians that the international community must bring to an end”.

Germany is meanwhile pushing to expand a French-led EU anti-piracy mission in the region to take on the Houthi threat.

Annalena Baerbock, the German foreign minister, said the Houthis were “contributing to the destabilisation of an already tense regional situation” and called on them to “stop these attacks immediately”.

On Thursday Mark Rutte, the Dutch prime minister, said: “The US-British action is based on the right of self-defence, aims to protect free passage and is focused on de-escalation,” said .

“The Netherlands, with its long history as a seafaring country, places significant importance on the right of free passage and supports this targeted operation.”