An early Christmas for the president, just hours after leaving Qatar. Emmanuel Macron will arrive this Monday afternoon at the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, currently off the Egyptian coast, to celebrate the New Year holidays with the 2,000 soldiers who live on board.
Over dinner, the Head of State, accompanied by Sébastien Lecornu, Minister of the Armed Forces, will express to the soldiers “his confidence and his support”. The Elysée tenant will sleep there before flying out the next day to a regional conference in Jordan.
An aircraft carrier that secures airspace
The flagship of the French navy, which left Toulon on November 15, is accompanied by frigates, tankers, a nuclear submarine and maritime patrol planes. Currently in the Mediterranean, the ship operates to secure NATO airspace while conducting exercises between allies.
The mission is essential in the midst of the war in Ukraine, after doubts about the effectiveness of the defense of Polish airspace. In mid-November, two people died after a missile, presumably Ukrainian, hit Polish territory.
Budget increase for armies.
This visit also comes as discussions are underway on the 2024-2030 military programming law and rumors about the abandonment of a second aircraft carrier project are strong. The president’s entourage judges for the moment “premature to talk about it.” The Head of State could, however, insist on the upward budget of the armies for the fifth consecutive year, in the midst of a conflict at the gates of Europe.
The president has become accustomed since his election to spending time with the French army at the end of the year since his first election. In 2017, he went to Niger, then Chad before, the following year, going to the Port-Bouët camp near Abidjan in 2019. However, the tradition was thwarted in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid-19. 19.
Source: BFM TV
