Abstract

ANGUITA OLMEDO, Concepción  and  SANCHEZ EXPOSITO, Alberto. Projection of the Interests of the European Union in the Indian Ocean:A Geostrategic Issue. URVIO [online]. 2020, n.27, pp.25-41. ISSN 1390-4299.  https://doi.org/10.17141/urvio.27.2020.4318.

The Indian Ocean is a space in which international trading converge with illicit activities that convert the Horn of Africa into a region of conflict. The main challenge of this strategic maritime area is piracy, favoured by the lack of good governance, poverty, social and State restructuring, corruptionas well as over-exploitation of resources. These factors, common to every country of eastern Africa, prevent various peace and progress initiatives from being viable. Despite the decline in piracy in Somalia, as a result of international interventions,instability in the region persists, which poses a risk to the interests of the different actors operating in this part of the world.So far, the response to contain piracy has been the military deployment, now questioned by the reduction of the risk. The objective of this article is to determine whether the actions of the European Union are guided by the threats to maritime safety or if, on the contrary, they represent a projection of their own interests in a power game where the lack of presence would result in the loss of regional and international influence.

Keywords : defence; European Union; international security; maritime piracy; Somalia.

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