Macron open to park French nuclear weapons in other European nations

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French President Emmanuel Macron said he was “ready to open a discussion” with European allies on the parking of nuclear weapons from France to the ground, to try to strengthen the defenses against Russia.

Macron’s comments in an interview with the TF1 station came on Tuesday as it was Perform talks With Germany, Poland and other European countries to explore if and how the nuclear deterrent from France could be extended to the continent.

This movement is considered in response to the signs that the President of the United States, Donald Trump, wants to climb the North -American military presence in Europe and to force European countries to assume more responsibility for their own security.

“I will define the frame (for conversations on French nuclear weapons) very officially during the weeks and months that took place, but we have already begun things with the tests I mentioned,” said Macron.

He established three conditions to expand the nuclear protection of France to European allies: Paris would not pay the security of other countries; Any deployment of the nuclear weapons of France could not exhaust its ability to defend it; And any decision to use the bombs would remain only in the hands of the French President.

For decades, the United States has been the guarantor of European security, largely because it has parked atomic weapons and hunting planes on the army’s bases in Europe.

By virtue of a nuclear sharing agreement with NATO, nuclear bombs are under the control of the United States, but are designed to be transported and dropped by jet flown by Belgium, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands and Turkey.

European countries have been shocked by Trump’s apparent desire to undermine the transatlantic alliance, while they also fear that Russia will be a long -term risk in both Ukraine and the rest of continental Europe.

Macron said that “the moment we live (in Europe) is one of geopolitically awakening”, adding that Europe was “built for peace” and to link economies and trade, but “now it is power.”

Few in Europe want the United States to withdraw its nuclear guarantees, but the fear is such that the leaders of two Acarnissada Atlantic countries: the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz And Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk recently said that preparations for this scenario must begin.

The Arsenal of Nuclear Weapons of France is much lower than that of the United States, so it could not offer the same level of security in Europe.

For decades, France has said that the “vital interests” that determine the use of atomic weapons have a “European dimension”, but Paris has never defined this term, in order to maintain the options of open French president and any adversarial guess, the key to nuclear deterrent.

For Macron, talking to European allies about the extension of nuclear protection is a Delicate exercise Given the power plant of the weapons of the defenses of France and their vision of their sovereignty.

Although the discussions are underway, it is likely that there will be no review of the nuclear doctrine of France, a French official said earlier this month, but other changes could be made to point out Paris’s resolution to adversaries.

European countries are eager to avoid anything that would undermine the defense relationship with the United States.

When Merz visited Paris last weekHe and Macron said that any discussion of the extension of the nuclear protection of France would have to complement the existing NATO security frame of the U.S. safety guarantees.