On Monday 2 March, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that eight European countries - the United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden, and Denmark - had agreed to take part in the ‘advanced deterrent’ proposed by France.
According to him, these countries will be able to “take part in deterrence exercises”. “This may also involve signalling, including beyond our strict borders, or the conventional participation of allied forces in our nuclear activities”, he explained in a speech in Brittany. In addition, these countries will be able to host strategic air forces from the French army.
This effort will come “in addition to NATO’s nuclear mission”, explained the French President. He specified that there would be “no sharing of the final decision. Neither its planning nor its implementation”.
Mr Macron also announced an increase in the number of nuclear warheads in the French arsenal.
In a separate press release, the French President and the German Chancellor, Friedrich Merz, announced the strengthening of their cooperation on deterrence.
“France and Germany have set up a high-level nuclear steering group that will serve as a bilateral framework for doctrinal dialogue and coordination of strategic cooperation, in particular for consultations on the optimal articulation of French conventional, missile defence and nuclear capabilities”, they said, adding that their countries had committed to taking concrete steps this year, including German participation in French nuclear exercises. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)