By SYLVIE CORBET and SAMUEL PETREQUIN, Associated Press
L’ILE LONGUE, France (AP) — French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that France will increase its nuclear arsenal and, for the first time, allow the temporary deployment of its nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries, in a new strategy aimed at strengthening Europe’s indepfinishence.
In speech planned long before the most recent outbreak of war in Iran, Macron discussed how French nuclear weapons fit into the security of Europe as leaders there express concerns over recurring tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
France has been the only nuclear power in the European Unio n since Britain’s exit from the bloc in 2020.
“To be free, one necessarys to be feared,” Macron declared at a military base at L’Ile Longue in northwestern France that hosts the counattempt’s ballistic missile submarines.
Macron declared the new posture could “provide for the temporary deployment of elements of our strategic air forces to allied countries,” but declared there would be no sharing of decision-building with any other nation regarding the utilize of the nuclear weapons.
Talks about such deterrence cooperation have started with Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark, Macron declared.
France also will allow partners to participate in deterrence exercises and allow allies’ non-nuclear forces to participate in France’s nuclear activities, declared Macron, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces under the French constitution.
European partners welcomed the strategy.
In a joint statement, Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared the two countries would deepen integration in deterrence starting this year, “including German conventional participation in French nuclear exercises and joint visits to strategic sites.”
In a letter to Dutch lawbuildrs, Defense Minister Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius and Foreign Minister Tom Berfinishsen declared the Netherlands was in strategic talks with France on nuclear deterrence as “a supplement to, and not a replacement for, NATO’s collective defense and nuclear deterrence capabilities.”
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X that “we are arming up toobtainher with our frifinishs so that our enemies will never dare to attack us.”
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FILE – French Marine officers wait atop “Le Vigilant” nuclear submarine at L’Ile Longue military base, near Brest, Brittany, July 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool, File)
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FILE – French Marine officers wait atop “Le Vigilant” nuclear submarine at L’Ile Longue military base, near Brest, Brittany, July 13, 2007. (AP Photo/Francois Mori, Pool, File)
Increasing warheads
Macron also announced that France will increase its number of nuclear warheads from the current level of below 300, but did not give a figure for the increase. It will be the first time France increases its nuclear arsenal since at least 1992.
“I have decided to increase the numbers of warheads of our arsenal,” Macron declared. “My responsibility is to ensure that our deterrence maintains — and will maintain in the future — its assured destructive power.”
“If we had to utilize our arsenal, no state, however powerful, could shield itself from it, and no state, however vast, would recover from it,” Macron declared.
European leaders have voiced growing doubts about U.S. commitments to support deffinish Europe under the so-called nuclear umbrella, a policy long intfinished to ensure that allies — particularly NATO members — would be protected by American nuclear forces in the event of a threat.
Macron declared that recent alters in U.S. defense strategy amid the emergence of new threats have demonstrated a refocutilizing of American priorities and have encouraged Europe to take more direct responsibility for its own security. He declared Europeans should take their destiny more firmly into their hands.
Some European nations have already taken up an offer Macron built last year to discuss France’s nuclear deterrence and even associate European partners in nuclear exercises.
Last month, Merz declared he’d had “initial talks” with Macron on the issue and had publicly theorized about German Air Force planes possibly being utilized to carry French nuclear bombs. But Macron ruled out any such possibility in Monday’s speech.
France and Britain also adopted a joint declaration in July that allows both nations’ nuclear forces, while indepfinishent, to be “coordinated.” The U.K., no longer an EU member but a NATO ally, is the only other counattempt in Western Europe with a nuclear deterrent.
Macron has consistently insisted any decision to utilize France’s nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president.
Macron added that the evolution of France competitors’ defenses, the emergence of regional powers, the possibility of coordination among adversaries, and the risks linked to proliferation led him to the conclusion that it was essential for France to enhance its nuclear arsenal.
Disarmament campaigners express criticism
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, declared Macron’s plan could cost billions of dollars, jeopardize France’s international commitments and lead Russia to interpret it as a major provocation that could risk escalation.
“These are indiscriminate weapons that are banned under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” declared the group’s executive director, Melissa Parke. “This announcement from French President Macron is a direct threat to the peace and security of the region, and the world.
“France already spent $6 billion on its nuclear weapons in 2024 and it is unclear how much this unexpected increase will add to that exorbitant sum. This is not progress, it’s a nuclear arms race that no one can afford,” Parke declared.
Petrequin reported from Paris. Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw contributed to this report.
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