French President Emmanuel Macron says France will increase its nuclear arsenal and, for the first time, allow the temporary deployment of its nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries.
The move, announced on Monday local time, is part of a new strategy aimed at strengthening Europe’s independence.
In a speech planned long before the most recent outbreak of war in Iran, Mr Macron discussed how French nuclear weapons fitted into the security of Europe, as leaders there expressed concerns over recurring tensions with US President Donald Trump and Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
France has been the only nuclear power in the European Union since Britain’s exit from the bloc in 2020.
He was speaking at a military base at L’Ile Longue in north-west France that hosts the country’s ballistic missile submarines.
He said the new posture could “provide for the temporary deployment of elements of our strategic air forces to allied countries”, but he said there would be no sharing of decision-making with any other nation regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
Talks about such deterrence cooperation have started with Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark, Mr Macron said.
France will also allow partners to participate in deterrence exercises and allow allies’ non-nuclear forces to participate in France’s nuclear activities, said Mr Macron, who is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces under the French constitution.
Le Vigilant is a nuclear submarine in service with the French Navy, file picture. (AP: Francois Mori/Pool)
European partners welcomed the strategy.
In a joint statement, Mr Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said 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 politicians, Defence Minister Dilan Yesilgöz-Zegerius and Foreign Minister Tom Berendsen said the Netherlands was in strategic talks with France on nuclear deterrence as “a supplement to, and not a replacement for, NATO’s collective defence and nuclear deterrence capabilities”.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk wrote on X: “We are arming up together with our friends so that our enemies will never dare to attack us.”
Increasing warheads
Mr Macron also announced that France would increase its number of nuclear warheads from the current level of fewer than 300, but did not give a figure for the increase. It will be the first time France has increased its nuclear arsenal since at least 1992.
“I have decided to increase the number of warheads of our arsenal,” he said.
“My responsibility is to ensure that our deterrence maintains — and will maintain in the future — its assured destructive power.
European leaders have voiced growing doubts about US commitments to help defend Europe under the so-called nuclear umbrella, a policy long intended to ensure that allies — particularly NATO members — would be protected by American nuclear forces in the event of a threat.
Mr Macron said recent changes in US defence strategy amid the emergence of new threats had demonstrated a refocusing of American priorities and had encouraged Europe to take more direct responsibility for its own security.
He said Europeans should take their destiny more firmly into their hands.
Some European nations have already taken up an offer Mr Macron made last year to discuss France’s nuclear deterrence and even associate European partners in nuclear exercises.
Last month, Mr Merz said he had had “initial talks” with Mr Macron on the issue and had publicly theorised about German Air Force planes being used to carry French nuclear bombs.
But Mr 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 independent, to be “coordinated”. The UK, no longer an EU member but a NATO ally, is the only other country in Western Europe with a nuclear deterrent.
France’s Rafale B twin-seat multi-role fighter is designed to perform a wide range of missions, file picture. (AP: Tatan Syuflana)
Mr Macron has consistently insisted any decision to use France’s nuclear weapons will remain only in the hands of the French president.
He added that 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.
AP