(C) Daily Kos
This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered.
. . . . . . . . . .
France Hints It Will Provide Europe's "Nuclear Umbrella" [1]
['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.']
Date: 2025-03-05
These days, reading the foreign press isn’t just good language practice; it tells me more about what’s going on in the world than the pusillanimous American media.
Le Monde (in English): Macron says he will 'open debate' on using French nuclear deterrence to protect Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron said Wednesday, March 5, he will confer with European allies on the idea of using France's nuclear deterrent to protect the continent in the face of threats from Russia. Macron made the comments in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. Macron described Russia as a "threat to France and Europe" and said its aggressive behavior did "not seem to know borders." He said he had decided "to open the strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent by our (nuclear) deterrent." He said the use of France's nuclear weapons would remain only in the hands of the French president.
La Repubblica reported the same thing, quoting Macron warning that “no one believes that Russia will stop at Ukraine. [“Chi crede che la Russia si fermerà all'Ucraina?”]
BBC: Macron invites army chiefs to Paris as US suspends intelligence sharing with Ukraine. (This meeting appears scheduled for next week.) Also, the Financial Times (London), one hour ago: Macron seeks talks on how French nuclear weapons could protect Europe.
Over on this side of the pond, the Toronto Globe and Mail: Macron to open debate about extending French nuclear protection to European allies.
ABCNews did post the AP story: Macron to discuss nuclear deterrence with European allies. A look at France's unique strategy. They date it yesterday, which is odd, because Macron gave his TV speech today; the story reads more like they anticipated what he was going to say. Other than that, I do not yet see any US media reports.
Macron will kick off this discussion at the emergency summit of European leaders to be held Thursday in Brussels: EU leaders to hold emergency Ukraine talks, seeking to adapt to new security demands without the US, which is not a response to last night’s screech (a/k/a joint address) but more in reaction to Trump’s cutting off intelligence to Ukraine. Zelenskyy will attend the summit.
This is significant because while France is in NATO and coordinates its defense strategy with other NATO countries, it has always maintained independent control of its force de frappe. Among other things, that makes it less likely (though by no means impossible) that its details did not end up being part of the nuclear secrets that Trump absconded with to Mar-A-Lago.
Up until now, Europe has depended on the United States to provide a “nuclear umbrella” as a deterrent to Russia. While France has hinted at doing so before (France wants to extend its nuclear umbrella to Europe. But is Macron ready to trade Paris for Helsinki? May 10, 2024), even a week ago analysts were saying it was unlikely (A French-UK nuclear umbrella for Europe? Not likely, say analysts), and Le Pen was opposed as well as of Saturday. (No word yet that she has changed her mind.)
Even though Britain’s Starmer is still saying (for public consumption anyway) that he thinks the UK can work with the US, some British intelligence professionals are openly sounding the alarm: Ex-ambassadors warn of sharing intelligence with US. Without that intelligence sharing, the US is much more vulnerable to attacks of all kinds by bad actors around the world.
But that’s OK with Putin, so it’s OK with Trump.
[END]
---
[1] Url:
https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2025/3/5/2308185/-France-Hints-It-Will-Provide-Europe-s-Nuclear-Umbrella?pm_campaign=front_page&pm_source=trending&pm_medium=web
Published and (C) by Daily Kos
Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified.
via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds:
gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/
