France: Macron wants to open ‘debate’ on European nuclear deterrent
Paris: French President Emmanuel Macron said he was willing to discuss using French nuclear warheads as part of a “credible European defense” against threats from Russia.
“I am in favor of opening this debate, which has to include missile defense, long-range weapons firing, nuclear weapons for those who have it or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil,” Macron said in an interview with regional outlets from the Ebra press group.
“France will keep its specificity, but is ready to contribute more to the defense of European soil,” he added.
France, which has about 300 nuclear warheads, is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
The French president has in recent weeks adopted an increasingly tougher stance against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and it’s not the first time that he has suggested using France’s nuclear weapons for EU defense.
Macron first hinted at the possible move in 2020, when he called for a “strategic dialogue” on “the role of France’s nuclear deterrent in [Europe’s] collective security,” in an attempt to open discussions on this issue with Germany, which hosts U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil. France then repeated the offer in 2022.
So far, Berlin hasn’t taken the French president up on his offer.
But in January, Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and a member of the Bavarian CSU, which is currently part of the German opposition, told POLITICO that Europe should “take up Macron’s offer” in view of building “the European dimension of nuclear defense as a long-term goal.”
Macron’s comments sparked criticism from French opposition parties.
“When you’re head of state, you must first learn to keep quiet about what is the heart of our security model,” said François-Xavier Bellamy, lead candidate from the rightwing Les Républicains party for the upcoming EU elections on French TV.
The leftist France Unbowed’s group at the National Assembly said in a written statement that the comments were a “grave mistake” that have dealt “a new blow to the credibility of France’s nuclear deterrent.”
