The US and the EU completed a naval exercise that began earlier this week, the State Department said Friday.
"The joint naval exercise took place in the framework of the EU and U.S. patrolling and exercising high seas freedom of navigation," the agency said in a statement.
It said the exercise on Thursday and Friday involved the USS Paul Hamilton, as well as the EU Naval Force Operation Atalanta’s Spanish ship REINA SOFIA and an Italian ship, Carlo Bergamini.
"The exercise forms part of the shared commitment of the EU and United States to work towards practical maritime cooperation and support a free and open Indo-Pacific, in line with documents such as the EU Strategic Compass, the EU Strategy for Cooperation in the Indo-Pacific, and the U.S. Indo-Pacific Strategy," it said.
The statement said the EU and the US "reaffirm their commitment to further pursue coordination and complementary work for regional maritime security to support freedom of navigation and other internationally lawful uses of the sea in the Indo-Pacific."
