French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday evening confirmed that the frigate Languedoc was due to arrive in Cypriot waters imminently, with the aim of acting as a deterrent after the island was hit by an Iranian-made drone on Monday, while also announcing that the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle would be deployed to the region.
“France will send additional air defence assets to Cyprus, and the frigate Languedoc will arrive off the coast of the Mediterranean island this evening,” he said during a televised address, while also making reference to the strategic partnership he had signed with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides in December.
“We are also ensuring close coordination with our allies, our European partners, first and foremost, our Greek friends, so that this effort in the eastern Mediterranean is strengthened by willing nations,” he said.
He then warned of the negative consequences that the ongoing conflict in the Middle East may have on international trade, pointing out that around a fifth of the world’s oil and liquefied natural gas transits through the Strait of Hormuz – a chokepoint between the most northerly point of Oman and Iran’s southern coast.
That point provides the only seaborne access between the Persian Gulf and the open ocean.
“Faced with this unstable situation and the uncertainties of the coming days, I have ordered the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, its air assets, and its frigate escort, to head towards the Mediterranean,” he said.
He added that France is “taking the initiative to build a coalition to bring together the resources, including military resources, to resume and secure traffic in maritime routes which are essential to the global economy”.
Christodoulides responded to Macron’s announcement by saying that he “warmly” thanks him “for the concrete and deeply appreciated support provided by France to Cyprus”.
“Cyprus and France are bound by a strong and lasting strategic partnership. In these times of crisis, this partnership is concretely reflected in close cooperation and active solidarity,” he wrote in a post on social media.
The deployment of the Charles de Gaulle and the Languedoc to the region comes after Macron had a day earlier visited France’s Ile Longue base, where it houses its nuclear ballistic missile submarines, in a show of strength amid the ongoing conflict.
“In this dangerous and unstable world … to be free, one must be feared. I am convinced of this,” he said during the visit, before describing France’s nuclear arsenal as “the cornerstone of its security”.
