Tactical Misstep: Macron Bans Nuclear Weapons Dramatic GoPro Footage: Japanese climber is attacked by bear

Military experts speak of “surprise”, “decay” and “misstep” – committed by Emmanuel Macron. As for his position, the French president is Commander-in-Chief of the Army and holder of the Nuclear Weapons Code, which a uniformed officer had in his briefcase on previous presidential trips. France has about 300 nuclear warheads, carried on four submarines and, in part, by Rafale fighter jets.

That’s only one-twentieth of US (6,200 warheads) or Russian (5,500) shares. Nevertheless, the 300 French and 200 British nuclear weapons are sufficient for nuclear deterrence: each has an explosive power almost ten times greater than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945.

Pure Defensive Goal

As its founder Charles de Gaulle emphasized in 1960, the French nuclear “Force de Frappe” has an exclusively defensive purpose. This was also confirmed by Emmanuel Macron, who was asked about it on television last week since Russian President Vladimir Putin implicitly threatened a nuclear attack.

Macron explained that, according to current doctrine, the French nuclear arsenal can only be used if “the fundamental interests of the nation” are threatened. “And that would by no means be the case if there were, for example, a ballistic nuclear attack on Ukraine or the region,” he said.

When the journalist asked whether French nuclear weapons would not be used if Russia detonated nuclear warheads in the war zone, he confirmed: “That is clearly not our doctrine.”

Conscious ambivalence

The pronunciation only provokes reactions with delay – which are all the more obvious. The Paris newspaper “Le Monde” described the presidential clarification as “surprising” and a “misstep”.

This judgment does not come from someone in France who is in favor of the use of nuclear weapons. Rather, the discouragement is based on leaving the stake open. Like other Western nuclear doctrines, the “Force de Frappe” is based on the principle of “strategic ambivalence”.

Portals close to the military question whether the president has committed a “misstep” or is about to change French nuclear doctrine. The “Zone Military” platform suspects that Macron is “entangled”. At the same time he stated:

This would allow deployment across Europe. He did not specify whether Macron meant “European”, but only the EU or the entire continent. His predecessors Jacques Chirac, Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande always associated this European component with the EU. Sarkozy also offered Chancellor Angela Merkel the French nuclear umbrella; however, the German government showed no interest.

Press the red button

The war in Ukraine does not seem to change that. Berlin preferred to join 14 NATO countries this week in the annual North Atlantic Treaty nuclear exercise in Belgium and Great Britain. As usual, NATO member France stayed away from the annual air force maneuvers planned since 2021.

The reason for this is that the French “Force de Frappe” – like the British nuclear deterrent – is ultimately only nationally oriented. This is reflected in the fact that only the French president in Paris decides whether to press the red button.

By excluding or at least limiting the use of the “Force de Frappe” from the start, Macron undoubtedly wanted to send a signal to Moscow. He strives for the same “de-escalation” – as French diplomats also express it – in his numerous telephone conversations with Putin.

He has undoubtedly paid too little attention to the fact that he basically excludes the use of the “Force de Frappe”, questioning the sense of deterrence. When asked today, Elysée spokespersons rushed to explain that the president had not completely ruled out the use of nuclear energy. But this correction comes too late. (cpf/aargauerzeitung.ch)