French soldiers complete amphibious exercise in Cyprus

French soldiers completed an “amphibious exercise” in Cyprus over the weekend, with the French army saying the exercise had taken place as part of “technical training” involving sailors and soldiers from both France and Cyprus.

It added that the exercise constituted an “opportunity … to strengthen cooperation”, to “conduct joint training to enhance our ability to operate together”, and to ensure “solidarity among European allies for our collective security”.

The exercise comes with the French aircraft carrier the Charles de Gaulle and its carrier strike group remaining in the region, having been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean following the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East at the beginning of this month.

The Charles de Gaulle’s carrier strike group includes Italy’s Federico Martinego frigate, Spain’s Cristobal Colon frigate, and the Netherlands’ HNLMS Evertsen.

While no timeframe has been published regarding an eventual end to the group’s deployment, Dutch newspaper De Volkskrant had reported last week that the country’s government had stressed that the sending of its frigate will constitute “a limited deployment of a defensive nature, both geographically and in terms of time”.

The ship, it said, will remain in Cypriot waters until the beginning of next month.

French President Macron had visited the Charles de Gaulle earlier this month after having paid a joint visit to Cyprus alongside Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, with Macron saying during that visit that the Charles de Gaulle is “now close to Cyprus to contribute to the overall defence picture, and to ensure it in the long term”.

Additionally, while in Cyprus, he did say that France wishes to “ensure the freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the eastern Mediterranean, where we are, and in the Red Sea”.