France, Phl to begin VFA talks

France and the Philippines are set to discuss beginning this month their plans to enter into a “visiting forces agreement” just like that between Manila and Washington.

According to French Ambassador to the Philippines Marie Fontanel, delegates from the Philippines and France are set to meet in Paris to pave the way for a deal allowing each other’s troops to hold military exercises in each other’s territory.

“We will have an opportunity in May to maybe start officially the negotiations or, at least, discuss the modalities,” he said.

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and French Minister for the Armed Forces, Sébastien Lecornu, met in December of last year in Manila to discuss a potential VFA agreement and to fortify bilateral defense ties between the two countries.

They agreed to push more robust and concrete defense cooperation, defense technology, industries, disaster risk reduction and resilience, intelligence exchange and information and assistance in nontraditional threats, cyber exchanges and enhancing defense and military cooperation and exchanges of people, training, and exercises.

“Without need of any agreement, we have also agreed to sustain, if not, further the visits and cooperation between the French Navy and the Philippine Navy,” Teodoro said.

The Philippines has an existing VFA with the United States and Australia, respectively. It also has ongoing talks for the establishment of a Reciprocal Access Agreement with Japan.

The Philippines has been elevating its strategic defense and military cooperation with “like-minded” nations such as the US, Australia and Japan amid the increasing security challenges poised by China in the West Philippine Sea.

The said countries have joined the Philippines in a multilateral maritime cooperative activity in early April this year.