President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday unveiled a program meant to bolster France's armed forces by training thousands of volunteers ages 18 and 19 starting next year, part of a broader response to concerns over Russia's threat to European nations beyond the war in Ukraine. The young volunteers will serve in uniform for 10 months in France's mainland and oversea territories only, not in military operations abroad, Macron said in a speech at the Varces military base in the French Alps, the AP reports. Last week, the nation's new army chief of staff, Gen. Fabien Mandon, warned that France should prepare for "losing our children" in the event of a potential conflict with Russia. Political leaders across the spectrum condemned the remark as warmongering, per the BBC.
"A new national service is set to be gradually established, starting from this summer," Macron said Thursday, per the AP. "In this uncertain world where power prevails over law and war is an ever-present reality, our nation has no right to fear, panic, unpreparedness, or division." He's also incresing defense spending.
The plan: The program will start with 3,000 youth to be selected next summer and will gradually increase to 10,000 per year by 2030. France wants to reach 50,000 volunteers per year by 2035. Volunteers will hold military status and receive wages and equipment. After a month of training, they will be assigned for nine months to a unit in which they will perform the same missions as active military personnel, Macron detailed. They will then join the military reserve and continue their education or start working. Those who wish will be able to start a professional career in the active military, Macron said. Regular soldiers in France generally enlist for a two- to 10-year renewable periods. Conscription, which France ended in 1996, is not being considered.
The threat: Retired Gen. Jean-Paul Paloméros, a former head of the French Air Force, said training the young volunteers could take a toll on the military's already stretched resources. But he said the new program would help France better prepare for future threats. "It's a difficult path," especially because it requires financing and other resources, he said in a phone interview with the AP. "But nevertheless I think it was needed somewhere to make sure that the young generations understand that freedom and peace are not taken for granted and it doesn't come as a free lunch." Macron previously said France is seeking to boost its defenses as Russia's war in Ukraine puts the European continent at "great risk." Russia annexed 20% of Georgia's territory in 2008 and Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014, and launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Mandon pointed out. "Unfortunately, Russia today, based on the information I have access to, is preparing for a confrontation with our countries by 2030. It is organizing itself for this, it is preparing for this, and it is convinced that its existential enemy is NATO," he said.
Other European nations are taking steps.
- Germany: The military is redoubling its efforts to attract more recruits, notably via a new voluntary service. The plan remains to be approved by parliament.
- Belgium: The defense minister sent a letter this month to 17-year-olds to encourage them to sign up for military service next year, with the aim to select 500 candidates between 18 and 25 to launch the program in September.
- Poland: Seeking to build an army of reservists in response to concerns about Russia, Poland is rolling out a new voluntary military training program intended to train 100,000 volunteers per year from 2027.
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