have voiced growing doubts<\/a> about U.S. commitments to help defend Europe under the so-called nuclear umbrella, a policy long intended to ensure that allies \u2014 particularly NATO members \u2014 would be protected by American nuclear forces in the event of a threat.<\/p>\nMacron said that recent changes in U.S. defense strategy amid the emergence of new threats have demonstrated a refocusing of American priorities and have encouraged Europe to take more direct responsibility for its own security. He said Europeans should take their destiny more firmly into their hands. <\/p>\n
Some European nations have already taken up an offer Macron made last year to discuss France\u2019s nuclear deterrence and even associate European partners in nuclear exercises.<\/p>\n
Last month, Merz said he\u2019d had \u201cinitial talks\u201d with Macron on the issue and had publicly theorized about German Air Force planes possibly being used to carry French nuclear bombs. But Macron ruled out any such possibility in Monday\u2019s speech.<\/p>\n
France and Britain also adopted a joint declaration in July that allows both nations\u2019 nuclear forces, while independent, to be \u201ccoordinated.\u201d The U.K., no longer an EU member but a NATO ally, is the only other country in Western Europe with a nuclear deterrent. <\/p>\n
Macron has consistently insisted any decision to use France\u2019s nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president. <\/p>\n
Macron added that the evolution of France competitors\u2019 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.<\/p>\n
Disarmament campaigners express criticism<\/p>\n
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017, said Macron\u2019s plan could cost billions of dollars, jeopardize France\u2019s international commitments and lead Russia to interpret it as a major provocation that could risk escalation.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are indiscriminate weapons that are banned under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,\u201d said the group\u2019s executive director, Melissa Parke. \u201cThis announcement from French President Macron is a direct threat to the peace and security of the region, and the world. <\/p>\n
\u201cFrance 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\u2019s a nuclear arms race that no one can afford,\u201d Parke said.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Petrequin reported from Paris. Jamey Keaten in Geneva, Mike Corder in The Hague, Netherlands, and Claudia Ciobanu in Warsaw contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"L\u2019ILE LONGUE, France (AP) \u2014 French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that France will increase its nuclear arsenal…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":627721,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5],"tags":[69,25820,8703,440,156,40783,25821,57,3464,266314,50,375,80,267972,103,107],"class_list":["post-627720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-world","tag-donald-trump","tag-donald-tusk","tag-emmanuel-macron","tag-europe","tag-france","tag-france-government","tag-friedrich-merz","tag-general-news","tag-international-agreements","tag-melissa-parke","tag-news","tag-nuclear-weapons","tag-politics","tag-tom-berendsen","tag-world","tag-world-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116161814699459922","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=627720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/627720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/627721"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=627720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=627720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=627720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}