{"id":41849,"date":"2026-02-26T09:04:35","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T09:04:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=41849"},"modified":"2026-02-26T09:04:35","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T09:04:35","slug":"macron-to-outline-nuclear-vision-amid-european-unease-over-us-alliance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=41849","title":{"rendered":"Macron to outline nuclear vision amid European unease over US alliance"},"content":{"rendered":"
Emmanuel Macron will update France\u2019s nuclear doctrine on Monday, ruling out shared European control while outlining what Paris can offer allies concerned about the reliability of the US nuclear umbrella under Donald Trump.<\/p>\n

Although France and Britain are both nuclear powers, most European countries rely primarily on the US to deter potential adversaries \u2014 a decades-old pillar of transatlantic security.<\/p>\n

But Trump\u2019s rapprochement with Russia over the Ukraine war and his tougher stance towards traditional allies \u2014 including threats to seize Greenland, an autonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark \u2014 have unsettled European governments.<\/p>\n

Earlier this month in Munich, German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin had opened discussions with France on a potential European nuclear deterrent, which Macron said should form part of a \u201cholistic approach to defence and security\u201d.<\/p>\n

Other states, including traditionally pro-US Nordic nations, have cautiously expressed interest.<\/p>\n

Read: Dressed for succession? Kim Jong Un, daughter fuel speculation with matching coats<\/p>\n

However, European officials privately question how far France\u2019s arsenal could stretch to protect the continent. Concerns include cost-sharing, who would control launch decisions, and whether prioritising nuclear forces risks crowding out urgently needed investment in conventional capabilities.<\/p>\n

France spends roughly \u20ac5.6 billion ($6.04 billion) a year maintaining its stockpile of around 290 submarine- and air-launched weapons \u2014 the world\u2019s fourth-largest arsenal.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Europe, if you really want to go it alone\u2026 you have to build up your own nuclear capability. That costs billions and billions of euros,\u201d NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte told the European Parliament in January.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to expert estimates, as part of NATO\u2019s nuclear deterrence, the US stations around 100 nuclear bombs in Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkey.<\/p>\n

In the event of conflict, the air forces of these non-nuclear countries would carry US bombs under the so-called \u201cnuclear sharing\u201d doctrine.<\/p>\n

US Undersecretary of Defence Elbridge Colby told allies in Brussels this month that Washington would continue extending its nuclear deterrent to Europe, even as it invests more than a trillion dollars in modernising its own arsenal.<\/p>\n

French officials say Paris does not seek to replace the US umbrella or compete with NATO.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile US nuclear forces\u2019 primary mission is to target adversary nuclear arsenals, their French and British counterparts aim to inflict unacceptable damage on the political, military and economic centres of potential adversaries,\u201d Etienne Marcuz of the FRS think tank wrote in a recent note.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis doctrine requires far fewer warheads to be credible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read More: AI-altered video misleads on Netanyahu’s support for Afghan Taliban<\/p>\n

French officials say they want Europeans to better understand what France\u2019s doctrine can \u2014 and cannot \u2014 provide. But Paris is adamant that funding its deterrent must remain solely a French responsibility to ensure exclusive national control.<\/p>\n

A core element of France\u2019s posture is \u201cstrategic ambiguity\u201d over when nuclear weapons might be used, and where French vital interests overlap with broader European defence.<\/p>\n

For some partners, this lack of clarity is unsettling.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe first want to see what France has to offer\u2026 It\u2019s not about having deterrence. It\u2019s about how credible it is,\u201d said a senior eastern European diplomat.<\/p>\n

Any expanded French role would also require Europe to develop deep-strike missiles with ranges beyond 2,000km \u2014 a capability it currently lacks.<\/p>\n

Developing tactical nuclear weapons, intended for battlefield use rather than long-range strategic strikes, is seen as even less likely.<\/p>\n

Officials say doing so would raise alarm under the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, long championed by European governments.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand where these discussions are coming from. They stem from the fact that our transatlantic alliance is not what it used to be,\u201d European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told reporters in Brussels this month.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy personal view is that if we have more nuclear weapons around the world, I don\u2019t think we\u2019re going to be in a more peaceful world,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Speaking at France\u2019s nuclear submarine base in Brittany, Macron will deliver the customary once-per-presidential-term update on nuclear doctrine.<\/p>\n

France\u2019s stance aims to maintain a minimal but credible arsenal designed to impose losses severe enough to deter any first strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust discussing alternatives is sending a message to Moscow,\u201d said one senior European official.<\/p>\n

French officials offered no details ahead of Macron\u2019s speech but said the strategic landscape has shifted dramatically since his last address in 2020, citing Russia\u2019s growing arsenal and heightened nuclear rhetoric since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

France has long maintained that its vital interests have a European dimension. In 2020, Macron went further, inviting partners into strategic discussions \u2014 an overture that drew little enthusiasm at the time.<\/p>\n

Officials said one principle remains unchanged: only the French president can authorise a nuclear strike.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the case and will remain so,\u201d a French presidential adviser said.<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Emmanuel Macron will update France\u2019s nuclear doctrine on Monday, ruling out shared European control while outlining what Paris can offer allies concerned about the reliability of the US nuclear umbrella under Donald Trump. Although France and Britain are both nuclear powers, most European countries rely primarily on the US to deter potential adversaries \u2014 a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-41849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/41849\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=41849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=41849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}