France to boost nuclear arsenal

PAU, FRANCE:

President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that France will expand its atomic arsenal and could deploy nuclear-armed aircraft to allied countries for the first time, as he unveiled a plan to bolster security on the continent.

Speaking from the Ile Longue nuclear submarine base as the clock ticks on his presidency, Macron announced that eight European countries including Germany, Poland, Sweden and Britain had agreed to participate in what he called a "forward" nuclear deterrence scheme.

In a joint statement following Macron's speech, France and Germany said they had set up a "nuclear steering group", saying such an arrangement would "add to, not substitute for, NATO's nuclear deterrence".

"We are currently experiencing a period of geopolitical upheaval fraught with risks," Macron said, speaking after the launch of US and Israeli attacks against Iran in a campaign that risks destabilising the Middle East.

"We must strengthen our nuclear deterrent in the face of multiple threats, and we must consider our deterrence strategy deep within the European continent, with full respect for our sovereignty." Macron said eight European countries had agreed to join his plan to use France's nuclear stockpile to bolster security on the continent.

The countries -- including the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece and Denmark -- will be able to temporarily host French "strategic air forces", which will be able to "spread out across the European continent" to "complicate the calculations of our adversaries", he said.

The scheme could also involve "the conventional participation of allied forces in our nuclear activities", such as recent military exercises in which British forces have been involved, Macron added. He stressed that France would maintain tight control over nuclear decision-making.

In the joint statement, France and Germany said they had agreed to take "first concrete steps beginning this year", including German conventional participation in French nuclear exercises. Macron updated France's nuclear doctrine as Russia's war against Ukraine grinds into a fifth year and NATO allies worry about Washington's wavering commitment to Europe.