France has signalled a renewed show of military and diplomatic resolve in the North Atlantic as its sole nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the Charles de Gaulle, reportedly heads toward the region amid rising tensions between Europe and the United States over Greenland.
The French defence ministry confirmed this week that the carrier strike group has departed from the Toulon naval base to participate in Orion 26, a major joint and allied military exercise. While officials did not disclose the exact destination of the deployment, multiple sources said the carrier was bound for the North Atlantic, a region increasingly viewed as a strategic fault line between Europe, Russia, and the United States.
The deployment comes as President Emmanuel Macron prepares to host the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Paris for high-level talks focused on Arctic security and Greenland’s future. According to the French presidency, Macron will “reaffirm European solidarity and France’s support for Denmark, Greenland, their sovereignty and their territorial integrity.”
Macron’s office said the discussions will address “security issues in the Arctic and the economic and social development of Greenland,” adding that France and the European Union are prepared to support development efforts on the island. Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, has become a focal point of geopolitical tension following controversial remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump earlier this month.
Trump had threatened to annex Greenland and impose punitive tariffs on European countries that opposed such a move, triggering sharp backlash across Europe. Although the U.S. president later backed away from the prospect of using military force, the episode rattled transatlantic relations and revived debates over Europe’s strategic autonomy.
Against this backdrop, France’s naval deployment has drawn close scrutiny. The defence ministry said Orion 26 will be conducted “over the coming weeks in the Atlantic zone — a strategic area for the defence of European interests.” The exercise will involve French forces alongside regional allies and partners, underscoring what Paris describes as its commitment to collective security and freedom of navigation.
The Charles de Gaulle carrier strike group includes the aircraft carrier itself, an air-defence frigate, a supply vessel, and an attack submarine. The carrier typically embarks up to 40 aircraft, including Rafale-Marine fighter jets, E-2C Hawkeye airborne early-warning aircraft, and NH90 helicopters.
Commissioned in 2001, the Charles de Gaulle is the only aircraft carrier in the French Navy and the only non-U.S. carrier equipped with catapults and arrestor wires, allowing it to operate a full range of fixed-wing aircraft. With a displacement of around 42,000 tonnes, it is significantly smaller than U.S. supercarriers, which exceed 100,000 tonnes, but remains a cornerstone of France’s power-projection capability.
Over the past quarter-century, the carrier has played a central role in French military operations. It was deployed to the Arabian Gulf in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks for Operation Enduring Freedom, supported NATO-led air operations over Libya in 2011, and later conducted strikes against Islamic State targets in Iraq and Syria.
More recently, the Charles de Gaulle completed the Clemenceau 25 mission, marking its first operational deployment deep into the Indo-Pacific. During that mission, the carrier group conducted exercises with partners including the United States, Japan, India, and the Philippines, highlighting France’s growing emphasis on the Indo-Pacific as a strategic theatre.
The renewed focus on the North Atlantic, however, has reignited debate within NATO over Europe’s reliance on U.S. military power. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte warned this week that Europe cannot defend itself without Washington, pushing back against calls for greater European strategic independence following the Greenland dispute.
“If anyone thinks that the European Union, or Europe as a whole, can defend itself without the U.S. — keep on dreaming,” Rutte told lawmakers at the European Parliament. He said European countries would need to double defence spending from the five percent NATO target agreed last year to as much as 10 percent of GDP, while investing “billions and billions” in nuclear capabilities.
“You would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the U.S. nuclear umbrella,” Rutte said. “So hey, good luck.”
France’s foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, swiftly pushed back, writing on X that “Europeans can and must take responsibility for their own security.” His comments reflect a long-standing French position favouring greater European defence autonomy, including independent military planning and industrial capacity.
Rutte insisted that the U.S. commitment to NATO’s Article Five mutual defence clause remains “total,” but stressed that Washington expects European allies to continue increasing military spending. He also dismissed proposals for a European defence force that could replace U.S. troops on the continent, warning that such moves would complicate NATO’s structure and potentially benefit Russia.
On Greenland, Rutte said NATO would assume greater responsibility for Arctic defence but emphasised that negotiations over U.S. military presence on the island remain a matter for Danish and Greenlandic authorities.
As France combines diplomatic outreach with a high-profile naval deployment, the movement of the Charles de Gaulle underscores how Greenland and the Arctic have become symbols of a broader recalibration in transatlantic relations — one that may shape Europe’s security posture.
