France becomes first EU nation to sign visiting forces pact with Philippines

France has become the first EU nation to sign a visiting forces deployment pact with the Philippines, an official statement said Friday. The Status of Visiting Forces Agreement (SOVFA) was signed by Filipino National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and French Armed Forces Minister Catherine Vautrin on Thursday in Paris, the Philippines Department of Defense said.

Defense cooperation

The pact allows the two nations to deploy military personnel in each other's territory and expand defense collaboration. It will "serve as the primary document to facilitate a wider range of defense cooperative activities between the Philippine and French armed forces in the territory of either country," the department said.

Sixth agreement

While France is the first EU member state to ink such a pact, it is the sixth nation overall to do so with the Southeast Asian country. The US, which has a military base-sharing agreement with Manila, was the first to sign a SOVFA in 1998, followed by Australia in 2007, Japan in 2024, and New Zealand and Canada last year.

Geopolitical context

The agreement comes amid rising regional tensions in the Indo-Pacific, with the Philippines strengthening defense ties with Western allies. France's Pacific territories give Paris strategic interests in the region, and the pact reflects growing European engagement in Asian security architecture.