French President Emmanuel Macron has said he is open to discussing whether France’s nuclear arsenal could help protect its European allies, as he warned that Europe must take the threat from Russia seriously.
France and Britain are Europe’s only two nuclear powers.
“Our nuclear deterrent protects us: it is complete, sovereign, French through and through,” Macron said in his televised speech.
“But, responding to the historic call of the future German Chancellor, I have decided to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our (nuclear) deterrence,” Macron said.
German Chancellor-in-waiting Friedrich Merz has questioned whether NATO would remain in its “current form” by June and advocated talks with France and Britain about expanding their nuclear protection.
France’s nuclear deterrence strategy has hitherto been defensive and aimed at protecting the country’s own vital interests.
In his televised speech, Macron also said France would have to spend more on defence and would continue to help Ukraine. He acknowledged voters’ concerns over Russia and the new US administration’s upending of the international order.
He said he wanted to believe that the United States “will remain at our side,” while adding that Europe must be prepared if that was no longer the case.
“You are, I know, legitimately worried about current events, which are disrupting the world order,” Macron told voters.
“Russia has become a threat to France and Europe,” he said, adding that “to watch and do nothing would be madness.”
European countries are scrambling to boost defence spending and maintain support for Ukraine after President Donald Trump froze US military aid to Kyiv and fuelled doubts about Washington’s commitment to its European NATO allies.
Nuclear Deterrent
Macron also said he hoped “to convince and dissuade the President of the United States” from imposing higher tariffs on European imports.
In the early days of the Cold War, former President Charles de Gaulle developed a nuclear deterrent designed to be fully independent from the two dominant powers of the time, the Soviet Union and the United States.
France’s nuclear deterrent is air- and sea-based, with Rafale fighter jets and nuclear submarines capable of striking at any time, on the instruction of the French president alone.
According to the Federation of American Scientists, the United States and Russia now possess approximately 88 percent of the world’s total inventory of nuclear weapons. France has an estimated 290 nuclear warheads, while the United Kingdom has 225, it says.
Macron told Portuguese media at the weekend that he could open a debate on France’s nuclear deterrence, which far-right leader Marine Le Pen immediately criticised.
In his televised address, on the eve of a crucial European Union summit on defence, Macron also said France would spend more on defence—though he did not specify how much. He said there would be no tax increases to finance it, but tough choices would have to be made.
His push to increase French defence spending will not be easy as his government struggles to rein in an unruly budget deficit.
Macron’s comments come as Britain and Germany both announce plans for major increases in defence spending.
Macron’s address comes amid a flurry of European diplomacy to shore up support for Ukraine and mend ties between Washington and Kyiv after an acrimonious meeting between Trump and President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in the Oval Office last week.
France and Britain are aiming to finalise a peace plan with Ukraine, possibly “within days,” to present to the United States while also working to build bridges between Washington and Kyiv before possible talks in the US, diplomats have told Reuters.