French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday that he was open to discussing the potential deployment of his country’s nuclear weapons elsewhere in Europe.
The comments came in an interview with French broadcaster TF1 on Tuesday evening.
Macron noted that the United States already stations nuclear-armed aircraft in Europe.
“The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,” Macron said. “We are ready to open this discussion.”
“I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,” he said.
Macron lists conditions for sharing France’s nuclear umbrella
In the interview, Macron made clear that any expansion of France’s nuclear deterrence to other European countries would be subject to conditions.
France, the European Union’s only nuclear power, wouldn’t pay for the security of others, and its own defense capabilities must remain fully intact, he stressed.
Ultimate control over the use of the weapons would also remain solely with the French president, Macron said.
France held around 280 nuclear warheads in 2024, according to figures from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute.
Its military has the power to launch these independently from its own submarines or use jets to drop them from the sky.
Britain also has nuclear weapons, some 225 of which are stockpiled. But the country’s Trident nuclear submarine program is closely linked to the US system and relies on the US for maintenance.
This raises “concerns about [Trident’s] independence,” according to UK think tank Chatham House.
Germany and others open to French nuclear proposal
Marcon proposed back in March holding talks with European allies about how French nuclear weapons could help protect Europe.
These comments come as many European leaders feel they can no longer rely on the US’ nuclear commitment to Europe amid concerns of the Russian threat to the continent.
Germany’s Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also expressed interest in his country hosting French nuclear weapons.
He stressed, however, at a joint press conference with Macron in Paris last week, that this would “expressly not a substitute for the nuclear guarantee currently being given to Europe by the United States of America.”
Merz has also stressed in the past that Germany “cannot and must not have its own nuclear weapons.”
Up to 20 US nuclear weapons are already stationed at a German military airbase.
Poland, Denmark and Lithuania have said in the past months that they were open to such a possibility.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said in March that Poland was “talking seriously” with France about being protected by French nuclear weapons.
Interest in Eastern Europe is closely linked to fears of further Russian aggression following its invasion of Ukraine, but Macron was careful not to drive up tensions with Moscow.
In his Tuesday interview, he also said that France didn’t want to unleash “World War III” over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
“We must help Ukraine defend itself but we do not want to unleash a Third World War,” Macron said.
“The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations,” he added.
Edited by: Alex Berry
