For the first time, the French nuclear aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle” is put under NATO command for 15 days to participate in an operation in the Mediterranean. Lots of reactions.
For the first time, the flagship of the French fleet, the nuclear aircraft carrier “Charles de Gaulle”, is placed for 15 days under the command of NATO for the operation “Aquila” (Eagle) in the Mediterranean. The operation, which starts on Friday and lasts until May 10, involves 15 countries, including America, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Greece.
With the announcement of the news, the reactions of the left immediately flared up, and especially of Jean-Luc Mélenchon, who accused the government of “subservience” because it agreed to put “Charles de Gaulle” under the command of NATO. There was a similar reaction from Le Pen’s extreme right, who spoke of “the consequences of Macron’s political abandonment of sovereignty”.
But apparently there is a confusion around the concepts of command, control and dominion in relation to a participation in a NATO operation. So Defense Minister Sébastien Lecorny hastened to clarify through the newspaper “Le Parisien” that “Of course not, France is not giving up its sovereignty” by participating under the command of NATO. “Charles de Gaulle” participates “under the operational supervision of the Alliance, but under the political and military control of France,” he underlined. This means that at any time France can withdraw the aircraft carrier from the operation.
Message from France to Russia
In the context of the war in Ukraine, the message is considered twofold: To the NATO member states first, that the Alliance is vigilant for their protection, and to Russia and the growing threat, that for the West “what matters is the collective preparation aimed at effectiveness,” said Pascal Auxerre, director at the Mediterranean Foundation for Strategic Studies. For the allies, however, there is a third message from France, with its dubious past in terms of the military, that “this time it is ready to invest in the Alliance”.
The “Charles de Gaulle” already sailed on Monday from its base in Toulon, where it had remained for almost 9 months for maintenance and modernization. Its life is predicted to be 40 years from its 2001 launch, and it is estimated that in 2038 France will replace it with a new and much larger aircraft carrier.
Source :Skai
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