France’s nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, is reportedly heading towards the North Atlantic, the French defence ministry said, amid American threats to seize Greenland.
Meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron is to meet the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Paris.
Emmanuel Macron will “reaffirm European solidarity and France’s support for Denmark, Greenland, their sovereignty and their territorial integrity”, the presidency said
The leaders of France, Denmark, and Greenland will discuss “security issues in the Arctic and the economic and social development of Greenland, which France and the European Union are ready to support”, Macron’s office said.
The French defence ministry did not specify where the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was being deployed; however, sources told AFP that it was heading to the North Atlantic, which has been at the heart of geopolitical tensions between the US and Europe.
“The naval air group has set sail from the Toulon naval base to take part in Orion 26, a large-scale joint and allied exercise,” the French defence ministry said.
“Conducted over the coming weeks in the Atlantic zone — a strategic area for the defence of European interests — this exercise will bring together French forces alongside their regional allies and partners.”
The carrier strike group includes the aircraft carrier and its aircraft, as well as various escort and support vessels, such as an air-defence frigate, a supply ship, and an attack submarine.
Trump had this month threatened to annex Greenland and impose tariffs on any European countries that challenged his move. After European pushback, the US President backed down on the threat to seize the territory by military means.
The Charles de Gaulle is the only aircraft carrier in the French Navy. The nuclear-powered carrier entered service in 2001 and has a displacement of around 42,000 tons, significantly lesser that US supercarriers with 100,000 tons of displacement.
It is the only non-US carrier equipped with catapults and arrestor wires, allowing it to launch and recover a wide range of fixed-wing aircraft.
The carrier typically carries up to 40 aircraft, including cutting-edge Rafale-Marine jets, E-2C Hawkeye EW aircraft, and helicopters such as the NH90.
Over the past quarter-century, Charles de Gaulle (CDG) has seen intense action. It deployed early to the Arabian Gulf for Operation Enduring Freedom after 9/11, supported operations off Libya in 2011, and struck ISIS targets in Iraq and Syria.
More recently, the Clemenceau 25 mission took CDG and its strike group deep into the Indo-Pacific for the first time, conducting exercises with partners including the US, Japan, India, and even the Philippines.
Cracks “Wide Open” in NATO? Is Trump Planning To Exit Trans-Atlantic Alliance or Scaring Europeans?
Meanwhile, NATO chief Mark Rutte has cautioned that Europe cannot defend itself without the USA, amid calls for the continent to stand on its own feet following tensions over Greenland.
Trump rattled the NATO alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous Danish territory. The diplomatic crisis gave fresh momentum to those advocating for Europe to take a tougher line against Trump and break its military reliance on Washington.
“If anyone thinks here again, that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the US — keep on dreaming. You can’t,” Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament.
He said that EU countries would have to double defence spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to 10 percent and spend “billions and billions” on building nuclear arms.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella,” the former Dutch prime minister said. “So hey, good luck.”
France’s foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot hit back at the NATO chief’s statements, posting on X on Monday evening that “Europeans can and must take responsibility for their own security”.
Rutte insisted that the US commitment to NATO’s Article Five mutual defence clause remained “total”, but that the US expected European countries to keep spending more on their militaries.
“They need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe. So the US has every interest in NATO,” he said.
The NATO boss repeated his praise for Trump’s pressure on reluctant European allies to step up defence spending. He also appeared to knock back a suggestion floated earlier this month by the EU’s defence commissioner, Andrius Kubilius, for a possible European defence force that could replace US troops on the continent.
“It will make things more complicated. I think (Russian President Vladimir) Putin will love it. So think again,” Rutte said.
On Greenland, Rutte said he had agreed with Trump that NATO would “take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic”, but it was up to Greenlandic and Danish authorities to negotiate over US presence on the island.
“I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn’t, and I will not,” he said.
Rutte reiterated that he had stressed to Trump the cost paid by NATO allies in Afghanistan after the US leader caused outrage by playing down their contribution.
“For every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of an ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home,” he said.
“I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts.”
Agence France-Presse (AFP)
