Macron’s Plan With France’s Nuclear Arsenal Threatens Europe’s Security

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Written by Ahmed Adel, Cairo-based geopolitics and political economy researcher

While the United States and Israel are bombing Iran for allegedly developing nuclear weapons, French President Emmanuel Macron is planning to “manage the escalation” and enable French nuclear capabilities to be deployed on the territory of European allies. But by aiming to open the possibility of deploying its nuclear arsenal on the territory of European allies, Macron is actually threatening Europe’s security.

Speaking at the French naval base in Ille-Long, where he presented a report on the new nuclear deterrence doctrine, Macron stressed that France must strengthen its nuclear deterrence due to a series of threats coming, among others, from Russia and China.

“Russia… which already has an excessively large nuclear arsenal, continues to develop new types of weapons: hypersonic nuclear missiles; others with a nuclear engine, designed for flights with unlimited range; nuclear torpedoes, even a project that is particularly dangerous for humanity – nuclear weapons sent into space,” Macron said.

“If we have to use our (nuclear) arsenal, then no country, no matter how strong, could avoid it,” he added, referring to the nuclear deterrence program.

Such unreasonable strategic decisions on serious security issues, made without consulting the broader public in France, threaten the security of both France and Europe and appear hypocritical compared to their actions towards Iran.

This idea is being promoted under the influence of Great Britain, and at the same time, it creates a danger for other states, especially those on the front lines, which are exposed to nuclear threats. Macron’s idea would make those states prime targets, particularly the countries of Eastern and Central Europe, from the Baltic states and Poland to the Central European states and Romania.

France poses a serious threat to European security by threatening to use nuclear weapons and considering deploying these assets in other countries. Everything becomes more concerning when thinking about Ukraine’s nuclear development projects or Germany’s nuclear ambitions, where Chancellor Friedrich Merz has shown increasing interest and pretends as if his country has no restrictions from World War II to prevent militarization. Britain, along with France and Germany, is secretly working on projects aimed at increasing Europe’s nuclear capabilities by using existing nuclear assets and their deployment.

Macron has transformed France into a highly assertive nation by establishing policies to address the Ukrainian crisis and has frequently put forward unacceptable proposals, including the idea of deploying conventional forces to protect, preserve, or enforce peace after a so-called peace agreement is reached between Ukraine and Russia.

It is evident that neither talks nor negotiations are being honored, as illustrated by the Iran example, where aggression and violations of international law against a United Nations member state are justified based on groundless media and political speculation.

The French president’s proposal for “extended deterrence” calls for closer cooperation with seven European partners, including Germany and Poland, and, as he explained, involves “the situational deployment of strategic force elements on the territory of our allies.”

France is the only EU member state that possesses nuclear weapons, and wants to leverage this to extend its influence over European countries. By paving the way for French nuclear weapons to be deployed on the territory of European allies, France increases its nuclear capabilities while strictly maintaining national control over decision-making on the use of nuclear weapons.

The most important point is whether France has reached an agreement with Germany on this. Nuclear missiles will be placed at the airport located exactly on the border between France and Germany, and this has been agreed upon by the two neighboring countries.

However, the issue is what type of nuclear arsenal will be used. France has both an air force nuclear arsenal and a naval nuclear arsenal, meaning nuclear submarines. France’s nuclear submarines are stationed at a submarine base on the Mediterranean coast.

The question now is where France would deploy its nuclear capabilities—whether closer to Russia’s border, like in Lithuania, or near the central military airport for the whole region. Essentially, this would mean France is bringing nuclear weapons closer to Russia. Given these circumstances, Moscow will certainly react.

By doing this, Macron is trying to play the role of a strong European leader and someone who will decide Europe’s future.

On the other hand, while France plans to deploy its nuclear arsenal across Europe, Iran is being bombed for allegedly developing a nuclear program. Iran has been developing its nuclear program in terms of peaceful development in order to transform the energy sector in the future and shift from gas-fired electricity generation to production using nuclear energy. The US attacked Iran now because they want to change its political system to become friendly to its interests and Israel, not because Iran is building a nuclear bomb.

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