French President Emmanuel Macron is to unveil Wednesday the country’s military strategy through the end of the decade for his nuclear-armed country, in the midst of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, AP reports.
Macron is to make a speech on the Dixmude helicopter carrier, docked in the Mediterranean military base of Toulon, which is home to more than 24,000 troops. He will then be airlifted to France’s newest nuclear attack submarine, the Suffren, before meeting with some elite Navy commando members.
France’s so-called “national strategic review” is meant to define how the country’s defense will look in 2030 — but it won’t mention budget details, which are to be provided in a later bill.
According to a French top military official, the new strategy will allow France to “reaffirm its ambition to be a balancing power by 2030 on the international scene,” with a strengthened global influence. The official spoke anonymously in line with the French presidency’s practices.
As war is back on the European continent, France wants to focus on boosting the European Union’s defense capacity building — the bloc of 27 nations’ s security is still largely dependent on the U.S. and NATO.
“The war in Ukraine allowed us to move forward considerably on European defense,” the French official said. “We now are in a situation where France is the only country of the European Union with the nuclear weapon. It gives us a special responsibility.”
