France boosts military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday said that France will temporarily increase its military presence in the Eastern Mediterranean, to support Greece in its dispute with Ankara, over the energy resources in the region. 

The decision was announced in a Twitter post on Wednesday, with the French President tweeting both in French and Greek, that “the situation in the eastern Mediterranean is worrying. Turkey’s unilateral decisions on oil exploration are causing tensions. These must end in order to allow a peaceful dialogue between neighbouring countries and allies within NATO.” 

Macron’s decision was also confirmed by the country’s army forces, which said on Thursday that France will send two Rafale fighter jets and the naval frigate “Lafayette” to carry out exercises with Greek forces. 

The purpose of Paris’ move was “to strengthen the autonomous assessment of the situation and to affirm France’s attachment to free movement, to the safety of maritime navigation in the Mediterranean and to respect for international law,” the statement reads. 

Greek Defence sources confirmed that the French military conducted training exercises with Greek forces off the southern island of Crete on Thursday. 

J’ai décidé de renforcer temporairement la présence militaire française en Méditerranée orientale dans les prochains jours, en coopération avec les partenaires européens dont la Grèce.

— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) August 12, 2020

In the Eastern Mediterranean, Ankara has escalated provocations, with its research vessel, Oruc Reic operating in the Greek continental shelf, accompanied by warships. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is pushing for dialogue with Athens over the hydrocarbon resources in the region, and although Greece signalled willingness to hold bilateral talks, the country states that it is impossible to restart dialogue amid a “climate of tension.”

Amid growing tensions in the region, the bloc’s Foreign Ministers are set to hold a virtual meeting on Friday, to discuss the matter, as well as the presidential election in Belarus and the recent developments in Lebanon. 

Earlier in the week, both the Greek Foreign Minister, Nikos Dendias and Mitsotakis had called for an emergency meeting to safeguard EU’s support in snuffing out Turkey’s provocations in the region, and to discuss possible measures for Ankara.