The French president has called for a joint European defence, but critics argued that “under the guise of defending European territory, Macron wants to eliminate France’s strategic autonomy,” GB News reports.
Speaking to France’s regional newspapers last week, Macron stressed the need for “missile defence shields” and said he was ready to give France’s nuclear doctrine, which has so far envisaged the use of atomic weapons only to defend France’s vital interests, a more “European dimension.” Macron said:
A credible European defence… may mean deploying anti-missile shields, but we need to be sure that they block all missiles and deter the use of nuclear weapons. I’m in favour of opening this debate, which must therefore include missile defence, long-range weapons and nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their soil.
Despite the call for European cohesion, the president’s comments drew criticism from political opponents both in France and in the European Parliament.
French MEP Thierry Mariani said:
Macron is becoming a national danger… We can’t wait for June 9 [when EU elections are set to take place] to give him a clear signal that his policies are over!
More lawmakers from the right chimed in to slate the French leader – François-Xavier Bellamy, another right-wing MEP, called his comments “exceptionally serious” and claimed “we are touching the nerve of French solidarity”.
But criticism wasn’t limited to the right – hard-left French National Assembly member Bastien Lachaud said:
The nuclear deterrent cannot be shared… Under the guise of defending European soil, Macron wants to liquidate France’s strategic autonomy.
Macron’s comments follow an address at Paris’s Sorbonne University in which he claimed:
There is a risk our Europe could die. We are not equipped to face the risks.
The president said France “must show that it is never a vassal of the US and that it also knows how to talk to all the other regions of the world” in the nearly two-hour-long speech – which attracted praise from fellow European leaders.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, with whom he has often clashed on defence and trade issues, said:
France and Germany want Europe to be strong – your speech contains good ideas on how we can achieve this.
France is estimated to have about 300 nuclear weapons – the largest stockpile in Western Europe, ahead of the UK’s 225, and the second largest in Nato. However, Paris’s nuclear arsenal pales in comparison to Russia’s, which has 5,580 units – the largest in the world.
Regardless, Macron has said France “is ready to contribute more to the defence of European soil”, echoing calls by German finance minister Christian Lindner for an Anglo-French “nuclear shield” to see off “Russian aggression.”
But experts have professed doubt over leading military powers’ nuclear capability; last month, Erik Prince, the founder of private military company Blackwater, said:
I question how ready and tuned up [Russia’s] arsenal is… I also question how ready and tuned up America’s nuclear arsenal is, and I also question how tuned up and ready Britain’s nuclear arsenal is.
