The French aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, as well as its entire escort, including a nuclear attack submarine, will, for the first time, come under NATO operational control from April 26 to May 10. A relatively short mission, lasting around fifteen days, in the Mediterranean, as part of a broader two-month deployment, which comes at a time when France is seeking to regain importance within the Atlantic Alliance against Russia.
This announcement, made by the General Staff of the Armed Forces on Thursday April 11, quickly sparked a certain number of political reactions, particularly from the groups most distrustful of NATO who regret that the France regained its place within the integrated military command of the Alliance in 2009, although it had left it since 1966, under the leadership of General de Gaulle. “Sadness, vassalization displayed”commented Friday on the X network, the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. “Incredible: historic submission under Macron of France to NATO and therefore to the Americans”also commented on X, Florian Philippot, the former vice-president of the National Rally and founder of the Les Patriotes party.
“ We must not give in to the lie: France never loses command of its forces placed under the NATO flag”, reacted the Minister of the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, while this unprecedented deployment of Charles de Gaulle under the control of the Atlantic Alliance, also marks the aircraft carrier’s return to service after eight long months of work, as part of so-called “intermediate” maintenance, which takes place every five years.
“At any time, we can recover the mandate”
The flagship of the French navy will thus be placed under the supervision of one of NATO’s tactical headquarters, called StrikforNato, based near Lisbon, Portugal. A staff specialized in operations in the Mediterranean and commanded by an American admiral, who is also the commander of the Sixth Fleet of the United States. But “at any time, we can recover the mandate, and in a snap of the fingers recover the national command during operations if necessary”said French Vice-Admiral Didier Maleterre, number two in NATO’s maritime command (Marcom), on Thursday. “France can, when it wants to add or substitute another mission, if the situation degenerates for example in the Middle East”assures a source close to the matter.
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