The intervention was expected, in the midst of the war in Ukraine and while the future Military Programming Law (LPM) is being prepared which will condition the future of the armies until 2030. Emmanuel Macron went this Wednesday, November 9 to a building in the harbor of Toulon (Var) to present the major strategic challenges that France must face.
- Deterrence: French nuclear forces “contribute” to European security
Emmanuel Macron assured that the French nuclear deterrent also “contributed” to the “security” of Europe. “Today even more than yesterday, the vital interests of France have a European dimension. Our nuclear forces therefore contribute by their own existence to the security of France and of Europe”, he declared to Toulon. “Let us be careful not to forget that France has nuclear deterrence and let us sometimes be careful not to dramatize a few remarks,” he added.
On October 12, the Head of State had caused trouble by declaring on France 2 that a nuclear strike “in the region” of Ukraine, potentially implying in European countries members of NATO, was not a matter not of the “fundamental interests” of France. “Our doctrine is based on what are called the fundamental interests of the nation, and they are defined very clearly. That is not at all what would be at issue if there was a nuclear ballistic attack in Ukraine or in the area,” he said.
Emmanuel Macron, who has advocated a lot in recent years for the strengthening of European sovereignty in defense matters, also insisted on the “exemplary” anchoring of France within the Atlantic Alliance. He described a France “respected for its status with nuclear weapons, engine of European strategic autonomy, exemplary ally in the Euro-Atlantic area, a reliable and credible partner”. France’s ambition is to be “a power at the heart of European strategic autonomy, with strong Atlantic roots but at the forefront and at the pivot of the world”, he insisted.
- “Influence” will be a “strategic function” of defense
The President of the Republic also announced on Wednesday that “influence” will be elevated to the rank of “strategic function” in the defense of France, in a context of hardening of the information struggle in the world. “We will not be patient spectators”, witnessing the spread of false information or narratives hostile to France, and “convincing is clearly part of the strategic requirements”, declared the Head of State, announcing that this fight will be endowed with “substantial means”.
“It is thus up to us to think about the promotion” of the action of France, “without pride, but without unwelcome inhibition”, he added. France will have to know how to “detect without delay” these forms of hybrid warfare which are waged against them, “hinder them” and “in our turn, but in the manner of a democracy, get ahead of it, use it to our advantage in the fields digital and physical.
“An attitude that would only be reactive, even defensive could pass for a form of passivity, it will not be ours,” added Emmanuel Macron. “Also, influence will now be a strategic function, endowed with substantial resources”, he said, specifying that this would be done at interministerial level, with “for its international application, a central role for the ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs”.
- The French strategy in Africa “finalized within six months”
The new French strategy in Africa will be finalized within six months after consultations with its partners on the continent, Emmanuel Macron also revealed on Wednesday, confirming the end of the anti-jihadist operation Barkhane, nine years after the arrival of the French forces in Mali and three months after their departure.
“We will launch in the coming days a phase of exchanges with our African partners, our allies and regional organizations to jointly develop the status, format and missions of the current French military bases in the Sahel and in West Africa” , did he declare. “This strategy will be finalized within 6 months (…). It is essential and it is one of the consequences that we draw from what we have experienced in recent years throughout the Sahel region”, he said. -he explains.
The French army left Mali in August, pushed by the ruling junta, which is now working – even if it denies it – with the sulphurous Russian paramilitary group Wagner. However, it remains in the region and continues to fight against jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda or the Islamic State group, which are gradually extending their activities to the countries of the Gulf of Guinea. The announcement of the end of Barkhane has no immediate consequence on the French military system in the Sahel, which includes around 3,000 soldiers in Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso, after having counted up to 5,500 men at the height of its deployment.
“Our interventions must be better limited in time. (…) We are not in fact intended to remain committed without time limit in external operations”, justified the Head of State. “Our military support to African countries in the region will continue, but according to the new principles we have defined with them,” he said. “It will be available at the level of each country according to the needs that will be expressed by our partners.” Paris has to deal with an increasingly hostile African public opinion, in which the influence of rival powers, Moscow in the lead, is growing via social networks and official media.
- A plea in favor of “strengthening ties with Germany”
Emmanuel Macron also pleaded on Wednesday to “strengthen ties with Germany” in terms of defense, even hoping for “decisive progress in the coming weeks”. Qualifying Germany as an “indispensable partner”, the Head of State assured that “the balance of our partnership depends (…) in part on the success of the European project”. “Our forces are made to combine,” he added, as Paris and Berlin tried in late October to relaunch the Franco-German engine after a series of disputes.
- A Franco-British summit announced for the beginning of 2023
France and the United Kingdom will hold a summit on defense issues in the first quarter of 2023, Emmanuel Macron finally announced on Wednesday, calling for strengthening the relationship between the two countries. “Our partnership with the United Kingdom must also be taken to another level and I hope that we will actively resume the thread of our dialogue on operations, capabilities, nuclear and the hybrid field and reconnect with the ambition that befits our friendly and allied countries”, affirmed the President of the Republic.