French President, Emmanuel Macron, has announced that France will expand its nuclear arsenal alongside a new strategy that will see French nuclear weapons deployed across Europe.
Speaking at the Ile Longue naval base in Brittany on Monday, Macron said “To be free, one needs to be feared.” France, he announced, would increase its current nuclear warhead stockpile for the first time since the 1990s, and launch a new nuclear-armed submarine, The Invincible, in 2036.
“The next 50 years will be an era of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Macron also announced a strategy that could see French nuclear-armed aircraft “spread out across the depth of the European continent,” with Britain, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, and Denmark all confirmed to be backing the plan. This could see nuclear weapons stationed right on Russia’s borders. Decision-making on the use of these nuclear weapons will remain with France.
These countries will also participate in exercises with French nuclear forces and the development of missile and missile defence technologies such as space-based alarm systems, air defence systems to shoot down drones, and long-range missiles.
CND General Secretary Sophie Bolt said:
“Nuclear expansion across Europe – as well as here in Britain – will not keep our populations safe. These plans are part of a huge rearmament programme backed by new US nuclear weapons stationed at NATO bases across Europe. How on earth could siting nuclear weapons even closer to nuclear-armed Russia be a plan to secure stability and reduce tensions? This is far more likely to lead to a further escalation of tensions and increase the risk of nuclear confrontation. CND is part of a growing movement across Europe that is opposing this war drive. We need a nuclear-free Europe and a common security strategy based on peace, diplomacy, and dialogue.”