Armies: reinforcements of volunteers, strategies… What Macron announced during his visit to Brittany

Emmanuel Macron asked, this Monday, in Cesson-Sévigné (35), the government and the armies for proposals, by May, to “mobilize” more young volunteers “to reinforce the armies” if necessary , seeming to acknowledge, half-heartedly, the end of the universal national service which he nevertheless promised to generalize.

“After the professional army, it is the reserve of professionals that we must now mobilize, in support, in addition,” said the Head of State during his greetings to the armies. “To constitute this reserve, Defense and Citizenship Day will be renovated and will once again become, tomorrow, a moment of time rediscovered with the armies,” he added, while remaining vague on the contours of his project. Among the 800,000 young people who pass through each year, “some will come forward and say that they will respond if the nation calls them”. As a reminder, France is targeting 210,000 active military personnel and 80,000 reservists by 2030.

Towards an update of strategic priorities

The president wants, “by May”, an update of the National Strategic Review, already revised in 2022, to define “the contours of our global defense and rearmament, including moral”. Highlighting the need to adapt to “the accumulation of threats”, the Head of State also called for a “European strategic awakening” through an “assumed European preference” in its arms purchases to strengthen the autonomy of Europe in relation to the “American ally”.

“There cannot be peace and security in Europe”

“Let us not kid ourselves”, the conflict in Ukraine “will not end tomorrow or the day after tomorrow”, launched the President at the very moment when his counterpart Donald Trump, who promised a rapid end to this war, was invested in the States -United. “There cannot be peace and security in Europe without Europeans and without them being negotiated by Europeans,” he warned.

“The challenge today is to give Ukraine the means to survive and enter any future negotiations in a position of strength. The challenge, tomorrow, when the hostilities stop, will be to give Ukraine guarantees against any return of war to its territory and assurances for our own security,” he argued.