French aircraft carrier heads to North Atlantic amid Greenland tensions

PARIS: The flagship of the French Navy, the Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier, on Tuesday set course for the Atlantic, the defence ministry said, after the United States and Europe butted heads over Greenland.

On Wednesday, French President Emmanuel Macron is to meet the leaders of Denmark and Greenland in Paris, his office said.

European powers rallied together when US President Donald Trump this month undermined the transatlantic alliance by threatening to seize the autonomous Danish territory.

Greenland is strategically located between the Arctic Ocean and the North Atlantic Ocean.

The French defence ministry did not specify where the Charles de Gaulle was being deployed. But sources familiar with the matter told AFP that the aircraft carrier was heading to the North Atlantic, which has been at the heart of the geopolitical tensions.