Interesting.
If they’re just escorting French ships, what is he doing in charge of the EU task force and who are they escorting?
Grauniad:
French military now escorting French ships through Red Sea - naval commander
French naval forces are accompanying ships with French interests through the Red Sea region, the country’s top naval commander in the area said on Thursday, adding that Paris’ current mandate did not include striking Houthi rebels directly.….
Speaking to the media, Reuters reports R Adm Emmanuel Slaars, joint commander of French forces in the region, said France was working closely with the US-led Prosperity Guardian mission in the area by exchanging information and carrying out patrols, but said command of French forces remained entirely under Paris’ control.
“The French operation consists of on the one hand patrolling the maritime zones where the Houthis operate to stop them,” Slaars said. “These patrols are in coordination with the Prosperity Guardian operation,” he said.
“On the other hand, we regularly escort French-flagged ships or with French interests in the Red Sea. We accompany them all along their crossing.”
Slaars, who also heads the EU’s mission of nine countries operating in the strait of Hormuz, said there was always a need for more military assets in the region, although France did not intend to deploy more for now.