Foreign Policy > Iran

The EU at the Narrow Passage

The Hormuz crisis threatens to become a catastrophe for Europeans.

Thomas Kolbe | March 20, 2026

Under the pressure of extreme energy prices, the ideologically driven miscalculations of the EU -- and Germany in particular -- are revealing their fatal, destructive magnitude. Europeans must do everything in their power to make the Strait of Hormuz navigable again.

The Hormuz crisis threatens to become a catastrophe for Europeans. No region is as dependent on oil and gas supplies as Europe, while the United States can operate from a comparatively sovereign position of energy self-sufficiency. Precisely for this reason, Europeans should have a vital interest in securing the Strait of Hormuz militarily in order to safeguard their energy flows.

The geopolitical chessboard is shifting rapidly: U.S. President Donald Trump has raised the question of whether it is even in America’s interest to keep this lifeline open under heightened risk -- a shocking message from a European perspective, yet one that has largely passed without reaction.

From the very beginning of the crisis, the United States has made a decisive move by announcing its push into the maritime insurance business. Following a fourfold increase in premiums and the refusal of key insurers such as Lloyd’s to cover the risks of passage through Hormuz, the United States is now preparing a state-backed reinsurance mechanism to take over this geopolitically crucial sector. In doing so, it will determine who can transit -- and who cannot.

Europe thus finds itself in an increasingly precarious strategic predicament. Militarily, it is largely incapable of acting, and economically, due to its flawed energy policies, it is dependent in multiple ways on external actors -- not least on LNG supplies from........

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