France creates voluntary military service to relieve the burden on the professional army. President Macron makes it clear that frontline deployment in Ukraine is out of the question.
Stefan Brändle, Paris / ch media
Emmanuel Macron made the official announcement on Thursday near Grenoble in front of the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade: The French President explained that his country, like other EU states, had to create a military service again as the threat to the old continent was increasing. Russia is behaving “much more aggressively” than it did in Soviet times.
French troops at a parade in Paris in July.Image: keystone
Conservative President Jacques Chirac abolished compulsory military service in 1996. Macron created a “universal national service” (SNU) in 2017. However, this unclearly defined, very expensive and militarily controversial concept met with little understanding among the population – and open rejection in the army. The president admitted his failure after the Covid pandemic.
The target number is 50,000 volunteers
According to Macron, the new and voluntary military service aims to “strengthen the pact between the army and the nation”. It should last ten months and be paid around 1,000 euros per month. Initially, 10,000 volunteers – women and men – are to be trained; By 2035 the number is expected to reach 50,000.
According to military experts, the volunteer units will take on military tasks away from the front, but will also be called upon for civilian tasks such as the anti-terror unit Sentinelle. This is intended to relieve the burden on today’s professional army of 200,000 soldiers. Macron also said that the professional soldiers should be able to “concentrate more on their missions”.
French soldiers during an exercise in Fréjus.Image: keystone
The political extremes are against the new military service. The Russia-friendly left and right populists turned against the volunteer army. Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Marine Le Pen suspect Macron of wanting to designate them for missions to Ukraine.
However, the head of state had already made it clear in advance that “sending our young people to Ukraine” was out of the question. In doing so, he indirectly responded to a polemic of the last few days. Chief of General Staff Fabien Mandon had said that France must prepare to “lose its children” in a war. With this wake-up call he did not mean “children” per se, but rather the members of the national community – just as the national anthem begins with the words “Up, children of the fatherland” (“Allons enfants de la patrie”).
However, according to Macron, it cannot be ruled out that French professional soldiers would be deployed in Ukraine as peacekeepers to secure a ceasefire. This should not be confused with a war of aggression, especially since Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles could also reach French soil, Macron explained. “We are within reach of these systems, we are threatened.”
In parallel with the return of voluntary military service, the General Staff also wants to increase the traditionally small number of French reservists from 47,000 to 80,000 in a few years. The professional army is to be increased by 15,000 men and women. (aargauerzeitung.ch)