European Union special envoy to the Indo-Pacific region, Richard Tibbets, said in an interview with The Associated Press Wednesday, that the 27-nation bloc of countries will be “trying to step up our naval presence” in the South China Sea to maintain free international navigation and respect for international law.

“We really have a strong interest in making sure that freedom of navigation and overflight continues and that the global trading system is not affected by increasing tensions in the region,” Tibbets told the AP in Manila, Philippines, where he was meeting the country’s foreign defense and coast guard officials. “We will be trying to step up our naval presence.”