SUBIC BAY, February 24 ------ France hopes to see broader military cooperation with the Philippines following the historic visit of its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle. Aboard the French Navy aircraft carrier docked in Subic Bay on Sunday, French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel said this latest high-profile deployment shows that Paris is committed to building trust with Manila while promoting regional order. "With the deployment of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the support of our Philippine partners, I'm confident that this visit will path the way for broader military cooperation between our two countries,” she told reporters.
The French CSG, centered around the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, made an operational break in Subic Bay and Manila after holding a bilateral maritime cooperative activity with Filipino forces in the West Philippine Sea. The Charles de Gaulle, together with an air defense destroyer and auxiliary oil replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier arrived in Subic Bay on Friday. Its two other multi-mission destroyer escorts, on the other hand, docked in Manila on Saturday. “France regularly projects military capabilities in the region through deployments and through regular participation in multilateral or even bilateral exercise in the area,” Fontanel said. “Our presence is a constant reminder of the importance to promote and to protect what unites us all— international law and cooperation,” she added.
Commander of the French Strike Force Rear Admiral Jacques Mallard clarified that the deployment was not a provocation against any country but simply an exercise of its freedom to sail in the region. “(It) is absolutely not directed to anybody. We are building mutual knowledge, we are building experience on the area, and we are constructing bonds,” he said. “We are mostly here because there is a free and open area to sail in. And we are here to use this right of common space to make sure that this space stays common,” he added.
This visit, Mallard said, is also the first time that a French CSG was deployed to the Pacific in years. While he did not offer specific details, he said there are “several plans” to continue other high-level ship visits “or maybe later” another carrier strike groups. “But for now, it is a first. It is a very interesting and very lessons-full deployment, and we will continue to work with those lessons learned for the upcoming deployment,” he said. The CSG’s stop in the country is part of the Operation CLEMENCEAU 25, flexing France’s muscle in “strategic zones where regional tensions are growing and the law of the sea is challenged by force”.
The operation is France’s way of “demonstrating that it can intervene with its allies, while controlling any escalation, to ensure respect of international laws and freedom of sea and air navigation”, the CSG said. The 260-meter long Charles de Gaulle can embark on board up to 30 Rafale Marine fighter jets, two E-2C Hawkeye, and three helicopters.
VFA, Balikatan
In the same interview, Fontanel said France is waiting for the formal start of negotiations on a visiting forces agreement (VFA) with the Philippines. France transmitted the first VFA draft to the Philippines last October, which, if signed, would provide a legal framework for the presence of one country’s forces in the other. “It is still on the agenda— We are currently now waiting for the Philippine authorities to come back to us in order to be able to officially open the negotiations,” she said.
The envoy said France would also be present at the Balikatan 2025 but as an observer. “(For) an active participation like last year, it will probably not be possible in 2025 but we are already working on the (2026) activities, so let's see,” she said.
Source: pna.gov.ph
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