France Sends Aircraft Carrier to Eastern Mediterranean

(MENAFN) France has decided to reposition its aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle and the accompanying naval strike group from the Baltic Sea to the eastern Mediterranean, in response to growing security concerns, according to reports.

This redeployment coincides with French President Emmanuel Macron convening a National Defense and Security Council session at the Elysee Palace to evaluate the evolving situation.

During the meeting, Macron stated, “in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), a hangar at our base adjacent to the Emirati base was hit in a drone attack targeting the port of Abu Dhabi.” He clarified, “The damage is limited and purely material. There are no injuries.”

Macron noted that the UAE was “by far the most affected and most exposed,” adding that Qatar had also been significantly targeted, while “all other countries in the region have been struck.”

He emphasized that recent US and Israeli strikes against Iran, which began Friday morning, had sparked “an unprecedented regional escalation.” He described Iran’s counterattacks, carried out “in a totally disproportionate and indiscriminate manner,” as having struck both military installations and “numerous civilian targets” in allied and partner nations across the region.

The French president added that authorities would undertake a “detailed, country-by-country review of the situation” to implement protective measures and facilitate the return of French citizens “as soon as airspace reopens.”

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