France for freedom of navigation in shared maritime spaces – Fontanel
French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel holds a press conference aboard French aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle in Subic Bay on Sunday, February 23, 2025. —INQUIRER.net/Faith Argosino
SUBIC BAY, ZAMBALES, Philippines — The government of France will continue to deploy its aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle and conduct other similar operations worldwide in a bid to deescalate the ongoing tensions in regions such as the West Philippine Sea (WPS), according to French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel.
In a press conference aboard aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle in Subic Bay, Fontanel said they stand with other countries—particularly the Philippines—in adhering to the international law of the sea when asked how France plans to help its allies control tension in the WPS.
READ: PH, French military hold drills in West Philippine Sea
“It’s of course not the reason why the deployment is coming here, as I think we have both explained. But knowing the rise of tensions, it’s even more important to uphold international law and the freedom of navigation, be it at sea or in the air,” Fontanel clarified.
“And what we are here also to show is that we continue whatever the situation all over the world—we continue to conduct those operations and those deployments, even very far away from main France because we have this Indo-Pacific strategy,” she added.
“And that is why constantly whenever there has been in the past or there will be I hope not in the future, incidents in the South China Sea that are contrary to international law, we always state the fact that any sovereign state has to adhere to international law and particularly international law of the sea, including in this region, including in the South China Sea,” she further said.
The French aircraft carrier docked in Subic Bay, along with two multi-mission destroyers, an air defense destroyer, and the auxiliary oil replenishment ship Jacques Chevallier, on February 21.
The aircraft carrier’s arrival is part of the framework of the letter of intent signed by Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro and his counterpart, French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu, in December 2023.
Earlier, the French Embassy in Manila explained that CLEMENCEAU 25 “is a unique opportunity to strengthen Franco-Philippine relations.”
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) public information chief said the French Navy would also join the AFP in its drills in the West Philippine Sea for the second time. email.
