The General Secretariat General for Defence and National Defence (SGDSN), the Ministry of Armed Forces (MINARM/DGRIS) and the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEAE) hosted a new edition of the Mediterranean Initiative forum, called ‘Golden Isles’, on 28 and 29 April 2025 in Toulon, which is an regional variation of the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI).

Bringing together 116 countries in 2025, the PSI is a voluntary and flexible multilateral cooperation framework launched in 2003 with the adoption of the Paris Principles. It aims to create diplomatic and military channels to strengthen operational cooperation between participating States in order to disrupt proliferation flows by sea, air and land, as proliferation constitutes a threat to international peace and security according to the United Nations Security Council (Resolution 1540 of 2004).

The Mediterranean Initiative, jointly launched by France and Germany in 2013 and joined by Italy in 2023, aims at maintaining dialogue between the various states active in the Mediterranean basin and at promoting the adoption of the PSI principles by all Mediterranean coastal countries.

This two-day seminar, held at the Toulon naval base, enabled representatives from fourteen States to discuss the main issues related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction in the Mediterranean. The examination of concrete case studies provided an opportunity to illustrate the difficulties encountered in implementing operations to intercept materials that could contribute to weapons of mass destruction programmes. The need for a high level of cooperation between states was emphasised by all participants in the light of a tabletop exercise.

France demonstrated and shared its expertise in the fight against non-proliferation through a full-scale live exercise (LIVEX) simulating the interdiction of a vessel suspected to ship a cargo of proliferation concern. Conducted on board the Landing Dock Helicopter (LDH) Tonnerre, the LIVEX involved several teams of the French Navy, the Army's 2nd Dragoons Regiment, trained to deal with Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) threats, as well as French Customs.

This event follows the last edition of the Mediterranean initiative hosted in Paris in June, 2022 as well as several other PSI activities conducted in the framework of other regional variations.