French aircraft carrier reaches Crete's Souda bay

The French Navy’s Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier’s presence in Greece comes at a time of heightened defense and security cooperation between the two NATO allies.

On Friday, the carrier reached the NATO naval base at Souda Bay on the island of Crete, where it will be based as it conducts a series of operations in the Eastern Mediterranean. 

A day earlier, the Charles de Gaulle had hosted Greek Minister of Defense Nikos Panagiotopoulos and his French counterpart, Minister of the Armed Forces Florence Parly, who had earlier signed an agreement for France to sell three advanced-technology frigates to the Hellenic Navy and six Rafale fighter jets to the Hellenic Air Force.