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French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “ready to open a discussion” with European allies on France’s nuclear weapons parking on their soil, with the aim of strengthening the defenses against Russia.
The comments made by Macron in an interview with the TF1 broadcaster on Tuesday, while he organized talks with Germany, Poland and other European countries to explore if and how France’s nuclear deterrence could be extended on the continent.
Such a decision is considered in response to the signs that US President Donald Trump wants to reduce the American military presence in Europe and forces European countries to assume more responsibility for their own security.
“I will define the framework [for talks about French nuclear weapons] In a very official way in the weeks and months to come, but we have already started things with the providents I mentioned, “said Macron.
He exhibited three conditions to extend France’s nuclear protection to European allies: Paris would not pay the security of other countries; Any deployment of nuclear weapons from France has not been able to exhaust its ability to defend itself; And any decision to use the bombs would remain only in the hands of the French president.
For decades, the United States has been the ultimate guarantor of European security, largely because it has parked atomic weapons and fighter planes in the army bases in Europe.
By virtue of a nuclear sharing agreement with NATO, nuclear bombs are under American control, but they are designed to be transported and abandoned by jets managed by Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.
European countries have been shocked by Trump’s apparent will to undermine the transatlantic alliance, while they are also afraid that Russia has a long -term risk for Ukraine and the rest of continental Europe.
Macron said, “The moment we live [in Europe] is to wake up geopolitically “, adding that Europe was first” built for peace “and to link economies and trade, but” now it is a question of being able “.
Few in Europe want the United States to retain its nuclear guarantees, but the fear is such that the leaders of two Atlantic countries firmly – the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk – recently said that the preparations for this scenario should begin.
The arsenal of French nuclear weapons is much smaller than that of the United States, so it could not offer the same level of security to Europe.
For decades, France declared that the “vital interests” which determine the use of atomic weapons had a “European dimension”, but Paris has never defined this term, in order to keep the options of the French president open and to guess an opponent – the key to nuclear deterrence.
For Macron, talking to European allies about the extension of nuclear protection is a delicate exercise given how central weapons are on France’s own defenses and his vision of his own sovereignty.
Although discussions are underway, they are not likely to result in a revision of the nuclear doctrine in France, said a French official earlier this month, but other changes could be made to report the determination of Paris to opponents.
European countries wish to avoid everything that would undermine defense relations with the United States.
When Merz visited Paris last week, he and Macron said that any discussion on the widening of France’s nuclear protection would aim to complete the existing NATO framework for the United States security guarantees.
