Egypt and France have reinforced their strategic partnership through defense cooperation and diplomacy in 2026, including French troop deployments in the Mediterranean.
Egypt and France elevated their ties to a strategic partnership during President Emmanuel Macron’s visit to Cairo in April 2025. The countries held their first strategic dialogue round in Cairo in April 2026, followed by Macron’s May 2026 visit to inaugurate the Senghor University campus with President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi.
Egypt operates 54 Rafale jets and French-built naval platforms including two Mistral-class helicopter carriers, one FREMM frigate, and four Gowind-class corvettes. Three corvettes were constructed at the Alexandria Shipyard.
In early 2026, France deployed more than 4,000 troops and flew over 200 Rafale missions after the US-Israeli campaign against Iran began on February 28. The Charles de Gaulle carrier arrived in the Eastern Mediterranean in March.
Macron co-chaired a Paris conference on the Strait of Hormuz on April 17, 2026. Following the Iran-US agreement on June 17, 2026, France worked to secure the strait’s reopening.
