EMMANUEL Macron has unveiled sweeping plans to expand France’s nuclear deterrent across Europe.
The French President has opened the door to stationing nuclear-armed jets in Britain and other allied nations.
The announcement comes against a backdrop of intensifying global instability, with the war in Ukraine dragging into its fifth year and conflict continuing to flare in the Middle East.
Speaking to naval officers at the highly symbolic Île Longue base in Brittany, Macron declared that the coming decades would be defined by nuclear deterrence.
“The next 50 years will be an era of nuclear weapons,” he said.
Macron also confirmed plans to increase France’s stockpile of nuclear warheads and accelerate the modernisation of its strategic forces.
Central to the strategy is the possibility that French nuclear-capable jets could be deployed beyond its borders.
Macron said eight countries – the UK, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Greece, Sweden and Denmark – have agreed to take part in a new “advanced deterrence” framework.
Under the plan, those nations could participate in exercises involving France’s air-launched nuclear forces and potentially host French aircraft on their soil.
This would allow France’s Strategic Air Forces to operate deeper across the European continent and “complicate the calculations of our adversaries”.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk welcomed the initiative, writing on X: “We are arming up together with our friends so that our enemies will never dare to attack us.”
Macron also made clear that the policy extends beyond just weaponry.
Partner countries would collaborate on space-based early warning systems, air defences designed to intercept drones and missiles, and long-range missiles.
Despite the broadened cooperation, Macron stressed that there would be no formal nuclear guarantee extended to participating states.
The authority to order the use of France’s nuclear arsenal would remain solely with the French president.
The purpose, he said, is to ensure that any adversary understands that attacking France would carry an “unsustainable price”.
Shortly after his speech, France and Germany announced plans for closer cooperation on nuclear deterrence.
The two partners will “take the first steps this year, including German participation in French nuclear exercise… and the development of conventional capacities with European partners.”
In a text co-signed by Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, they said: “This cooperation will complement, not replace, Nato‘s nuclear deterrent.”
The announcement builds directly on the July 2025 Northwood cooperation agreement between London and Paris.
The two countries agreed that while their nuclear arsenals would remain independent, they “can be coordinated” when necessary.
During his state visit to the UK that same month, Macron and Sir Keir Starmer pledged to work “more closely than ever before” on nuclear deterrence.
