France aims to strengthen military cooperation with the Philippines following the historic visit of its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, Charles de Gaulle.
During the carrier’s docking in Subic Bay on Sunday, French Ambassador to the Philippines, Marie Fontanel, emphasized that this significant deployment reflects Paris’ commitment to fostering trust with Manila and supporting regional stability.
“With the deployment of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG) and the support of our Philippine partners, I’m confident that this visit will pave the way for broader military cooperation between our two countries,” Fontanel told reporters.
The French Carrier Strike Group (CSG), led by the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, made a strategic stop in Subic Bay and Manila after conducting a bilateral maritime exercise with Filipino forces in the West Philippine Sea.
The Charles de Gaulle, accompanied by the air defense destroyer and the auxiliary oil replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier, arrived in Subic Bay on Friday. Meanwhile, its two other multi-mission destroyer escorts 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,” Mallard 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 group.
“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 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 is capable of carrying up to 30 Rafale Marine fighter jets, two E-2C Hawkeye aircraft, and three helicopters.
In the same interview, Fontanel revealed that France is awaiting the formal start of negotiations on a Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the Philippines.
Last October, France submitted the initial draft of the VFA to the Philippines. Once signed, the agreement would establish a legal framework governing the presence of each country’s military 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.