STORY – “The vital interests of France have a European dimension”, declared the President of the Republic.
Special envoy to Toulon
Twenty-one cannon shots, fired from the Forbin, greeted the arrival of Emmanuel Macron aboard the Diksmuide. The ceremonial is codified in every detail. This is to welcome the Chief of the Armed Forces on the amphibious helicopter carrier, at the quay in the port of Toulon, between the frigate The Fayette and the aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle, undergoing maintenance before her next departure next year. Offshore, the nuclear attack submarine Suffren awaits the Head of State who has planned to be airlifted there, for an immersion phase later. The Head of State wants to be close to the soldiers for a day.
Emmanuel Macron went to Toulon on Wednesday to present the National Strategic Review which sets the armies’ ambitions for 2030. Yesterday, “we sought peace through interdependence”, tomorrow “we will seek independence in anticipation of wars“, underlined the president, calling for a revolution in mentalities. To face the challenges to come, he evokes sovereignty, the importance of moral forces or the struggle for influence. The format of the armies must beadapted“, he also said, without details. Emmanuel Macron was careful not to address the question of the financial means which will be allocated to them by the next military programming law.
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In a more dangerous world, France wants to beprovider of security“. Will it still be able to maintain its rank internationally and in Europe? “We will remain a rock and a sting”, promised the Head of State in a style variation on the image of the sword and the shield. “Rock”, because it is now the only nation in the European Union to have nuclear deterrence. “It protects us from any aggression of state origin against our vital interests, wherever this aggression comes from and whatever its form.“, he continued, recalling that it is up to him, as head of state, to define the vital interests of the country. By the way, Emmanuel Macron corrects his clumsy remarks of last month. “Today even more than yesterday, the vital interests of France have a European dimension”, he insisted.
«Framework Nation»
“Aiguillon”, because France wants to be the spearhead to make European sovereignty prosper, he explained. But this leadership role is sometimes challenged. Germany notably launched a European anti-missile shield initiative without Paris. Emmanuel Macron did not appreciate. Continental air defensecannot be reduced to the promotion of a national or third-party industry at the expense of European sovereignty“, he criticized.
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If the Head of State claims to want “to strengthen the tieswith Berlin, he does not want to lock himself in an unbalanced one-on-one. Emmanuel Macron announced a bilateral summit with the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2023. He praised partnerships with other European or African states. France also wants to reinvest itself within the Atlantic Alliance, where the president wants “a strong anchor“. France intends to be in a position to assume the role of “framework nationwithin NATO. The ambition is more modest than that of being a power of balances.
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