MANILA, Philippines – The French Carrier Strike Group, led by the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, will visit the Philippines by the end of February 2025 for a port call, as Paris tries to forge closer security and defense ties with Manila.
French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel made the announcement on Thursday, January 23, during an embassy-hosted forum on maritime security partnerships in Manila.
The French Carrier Strike Group left France in November 2024, spent Christmas in India, before heading to Malaysia and Indonesia this month for the La Perouse 2025 exercise. Fontanel said the group is expected to arrive in Manila in a month’s time, or by end-February.
It will be the first time for the Charles de Gaulle to make a port visit to the Philippines.
Before it heads to the Philippines, the Charles de Gaulle and other components of the French Carrier Strike Group will hold a military drill with the United States east of the Philippines, within its exclusive economic zone, as part of Pacific Steller exercise.
Fontanel said the Philippines “will” be invited to join the drill, although this has yet to be finalized.
The Charles de Gaulle’s planned visit comes as France hopes to finalize a proposed Status of the Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) with the Philippines. Manila and Paris’ defense chiefs signed a letter of intent in December 2023 for that proposed agreement.
Fontanel said France’s proposed draft of the SOVFA was submitted to the Philippines in October 2024. “I think it’s under process of discussion within the Philippines authorities,” she told media.
France is only one of several countries in talks with the Philippines on military agreements. Manila is also trying to forge SOVFAs or SOVFA-like agreements with Canada and New Zealand, among others. – Rappler.com