The Crushing Surprise: Why Did Europe Favor Sana’a Over Its Ally, the U.S.?

NYN | Reports and Analyses 

In a major blow to U.S. foreign policy, Washington has been exposed as lacking any international support for its aggressive campaign against Yemen, as its desperate attempts to form a new coalition have ended in resounding failure.

Western diplomatic sources revealed that U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio failed to persuade NATO allies to join a new aggressive coalition during meetings held in Brussels last week—meetings that laid bare the depth of American isolation.

The U.S. administration resorted to worn-out tactics in an attempt to push its agenda. During a press conference, Rubio tried to cover up his country’s failure by presenting flimsy claims about more than 174 Yemeni attacks and unverified allegations about weapons threatening navigation. But these desperate efforts did little to hide the fact that the world is beginning to see the true nature of this unilateral American war—one that lacks any legal or moral justification.

European rejection became particularly evident in the remarks of Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, commander of the EU’s naval defense mission, who stated in an interview with The National in recent hours that the solution in Yemen must be diplomatic, not military. He stressed that the EU’s operations are fundamentally different from the U.S. aggression.

Gryparis added, in a clear message to Washington: “In the end, we need the Yemenis on our side,” reflecting a European awareness that Washington may drag them into a quagmire in which they would be the biggest losers.

This American failure comes at a time when the U.S. administration is facing multiple crises. The war expenses in Yemen have exceeded the allocated budget, while none of the declared objectives have been achieved despite four weeks of intense bombardment. Internal criticism is mounting, especially amid reports that Congress may move to cut funding for this failing campaign.

This American dilemma highlights the fact that the era of unilateral power is becoming a thing of the past, while European diplomacy is proving there is a more rational path—one that may succeed if it does not cave to U.S. pressure.

As Washington continues its unilateral aggressive approach, traditional allies seem to be realizing that Yemen is not a battlefield that can be settled by force, and that any lasting solution must come through negotiations with the Yemenis themselves.

In the end, the picture is clear: Washington stands alone in its unjustified war, while the world increasingly recognizes that the American aggression is nothing more than a desperate attempt to mask a major strategic failure—at a time when Sana’a is proving the legitimacy of its position in defending Gaza.