Macron says France will allow temporary deployment of nuclear-armed jets to allied nations
L’ILE LONGUE, France — French President Emmanuel Macron announced Monday that France will authorize the temporary deployment of its nuclear planes to allied countries as part of its new nuclear strategy.
Macron said the new posture would “provide for the temporary deployment of elements of our strategic air forces in allied countries” but said there would be no sharing of decision-making with any other nation regarding the use of nuclear weapons.
Talks on such deals have begun with Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark, Macron said in a speech at a military base on L’Ile Longue in northwest France that hosts the country’s missile submarines.
He also said France would increase its number of nuclear warheads from the current level of less than 300, which would be the first such increase since at least 1992, but he did not give a figure on that number.
“I have decided to increase the number of nuclear warheads in our arsenal,” Macron said. “My responsibility is to ensure that our deterrence retains – and maintains in the future – its assured destructive power,” Macron said.
Macron’s speech aimed to explain how French nuclear weapons fit into Europe’s security, amid concerns raised on the continent by recurring tensions with US President Donald Trump.
European leaders have expressed growing doubts about the United States’ commitment to help defend Europe under the so-called nuclear umbrella, a policy long aimed at ensuring that allies — particularly NATO members — would be protected by U.S. nuclear forces if threatened.
France is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
“If we were to use our arsenal, no state, however powerful, could protect itself from it, and no state, however vast, would recover from it,” Macron said.
Some European countries have already accepted an offer made by Macron last year to discuss France’s nuclear deterrent and even involve European partners in nuclear exercises.
Earlier this month, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said he had held “initial discussions” with Macron on the issue and had publicly speculated that German air force planes could be used to transport French nuclear bombs.
France and Britain also adopted a joint declaration in July that allows the two countries’ nuclear forces, although independent, to be “coordinated.” The United Kingdom, no longer a member of the EU but a NATO ally, is the only other European country with a nuclear deterrent.
Macron has always insisted that any decision to use French nuclear weapons would remain solely in the hands of the French president.
