Paris is deploying battleships to the eastern Mediterranean for joint naval drills with Greek and Cypriot vessels reports Greek Reporter. The deployment comes on the heels of French President Emmanuel Macron’s condemnation of Turkey for exacerbating regional tensions on Wednesday.

Following discussions in Paris with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Macron pledged that France will upgrade its strategic relationship with Greece. He also announced a new agreement between the defense ministries of France and Greece. “We are talking about an industrial cooperation and joint exercises at sea and on land. We would also like other bordering countries to be involved.”

Macron condemned Turkey for not only signing an agreement with Libya on the delineation of maritime zones but also for meddling the country’s civil war.

“France supports Greece and Cyprus in terms of respect for their sovereign rights, condemning Turkey’s challenge of these. We repeated our concerns and condemned unequivocally the Turkey-Libya agreement,” Macron stated.

Mitsotakis welcomed France’s decision to deploy frigates to the eastern Mediterranean, calling the vessels as “guarantors of peace.” He also stated that “Greece and France are pursuing a new framework of strategic defense.”

France has initiated maritime backing in the Mediterranean, starting with new joint military exercises near the island of Crete.

France has also deployed a Navy helicopter carrier which has already docked at the port of Piraeus. It is scheduled to participate in a joint military drill called “Alexander the Great-2020” with Greek and American battleships in the Gulf of Magnesia, off the coast of central Greece.

This is the first time that France has dispatched such a massive and powerful vessel for multinational military exercises hosted by the Greek Navy.

French Ambassador to Cyprus Isabelle Dumont confirmed that the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle, the flagship of the French Navy, will visit the country’s port in Limassol.