“We must reckon with France,” Macron launches on a visit to the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle

Barely a page-turning World Cup, French President Emmanuel Macron joined the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle in the Red Sea on Monday for a traditional Christmas dinner with troops. “I congratulate you on the professionalism you have shown during your various interactions with Russian aircraft and buildings, sometimes with unfriendly behavior,” he told the approximately 1,700 sailors gathered in the aircraft hangar.

Before passing through the Suez Canal and entering the Red Sea on Sunday, the Charles de Gaulle took part in the defense of NATO’s eastern flank against Russia, amid the war in Ukraine in the Mediterranean. “The missions performed, the patrol zones, the flights have strengthened NATO’s defensive and deterrent position near the warring Ukraine,” the French head of state stressed, referring, in particular, to calming flights in Romanian airspace.

Russian corps very regularly approached the Charles de Gaulle during this mission, sometimes very close, at the risk of interfering with the maneuver of the aircraft, explains the officer on board. Especially tensions occurred at the beginning of the year, after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine.

Development of the French presence in the Indo-Pacific region

In the eastern Mediterranean, and now in the Red Sea, the aircraft carrier, which sailed from Toulon (south of France) in mid-November on several months of missions, is also taking part in the struggle of the American-led international coalition against the state group of Islam, especially in Syria. This participation “also made it possible to show competitors present in the region that France must be reckoned with,” Macron said, referring to Russia, as well as the Chinese fleet present in the Red Sea from the anchorage in Djibouti.

Charles de Gaulle will continue its mission in the Indian Ocean, France is demonstrating a desire to expand its presence in the Indo-Pacific region. “And here our allies will be on our side, but always and, I want, with our autonomy of assessment and with the very control of any escalation,” the president insisted. Then the Head of State visited the command post, after which he took part in the launches and night landings of Rafale. He will sleep aboard this floating steel giant before joining Jordan on Tuesday.

On the last Christmas of the troops, Emmanuel Macron went to Africa (Chad in 2018, Côte d’Ivoire in 2019). In 2020 and 2021, he had to retire due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, relations with the ruling junta in Mali, where the head of state planned to go, also sharply escalated. Since then, France has partly refocused its military presence on NATO’s eastern front in the face of the Russian threat and reduced its wing in the Sahel, leaving Mali in particular in August.