In Varces-Alliéres-et-Risset, before the troops, with a solemn tone and a large French flag behind. President Enmanuel Macron took care of the staging on Thursday to make a particularly delicate announcement: the return of military service. The famous ‘military’ will return in 2026 as a ten-month voluntary benefit aimed mainly at boys and girls between 18 and 19 years old, although the Elysée does not hide that, if circumstances demand it, Parliament could give the green light in an “exceptional” way to mandatory recruitment.
France is not the first European country to move in that direction while looking askance at the “threat” of an emboldened Russia in Ukraine.
The military arrives (with nuances). France will activate a new ‘military’, although with nuances. During an event held at an infantry base near Grenoble, Macron announced on Thursday that in mid-206 the country will launch a “military service” that will be implemented gradually. It will be voluntary, it is designed for young people aged 18 and 19 and will last 10 months.
During this period, recruits will receive a pay of between 900 and 1,000 euros per month, in addition to food, accommodation and a discount for train travel. Also the promise that they will be deployed only in the “national territory.”
One figure: 3,000. This is the number of young people that France hopes to mobilize in the first stage of its new military, although the idea is that this figure will grow gradually: from the initial 3,000 it would rise to 10,000 in 2030 and, “depending on the threat”, to 50,000 in 2035. Once they finish their training, the recruits will have to decide whether to return to civilian life, join the reserve or pursue a career in the forces. armed, which would allow the country to gain military muscle.
Right now France has about 200,000 active military personnel and 47,000 reservists. The objective, clarifies The Guardianis that these figures will increase to 210,000 and 80,000 by 2030. Achieving this will not come cheap for the country. There are those who point out that the plan will cost around 2,000 million euros, an expense that the president considers “a necessary effort.”
They look at the 90s. Macron’s announcement comes after the failure of the Universal National Service (SNU), introduced years ago, and almost three decades after the end of the mandatory military service in France. The Government abolished it in 1996, during the time of Jacques Chirac and at a time when the end of the USSR and the Cold War made it “unnecessary”, in the words of Macron. The truth is that the idea of recovering some kind of military service has been around for the last few years in the country, although it has gained relevance since 2022, with the war in Ukraine.
“A threat”. “France cannot sit idly by,” claims Macron, who insists that the new plan is “inspired by the practices of our European partners at a time when all our European allies are moving forward in response to a threat that weighs on us all.”
His announcement comes after General Fabien Mandon, head of the French armed forces, generated a stir by claiming that France lacks “strength of character to accept suffering to protect what we are” and “accept the loss of its children.” “We must dispel any confusing ideas that suggest that we are going to send our young people to Ukraine,” Macron was quick to clarify.
Why now? Words and details matter, but above all, context matters. Macron’s announcement comes in a scenario marked by three major factors. The first, key, are the tensions between Europe and Russia, with the war in Ukraine at the center of the board. The second, the doubts cast at the time by Trump about the US role in NATO. For decades one of the keys to European security was precisely Washington’s defense guarantee.
The third factor, crucial and directly related to the previous one, is the increase in military spending on the continent, driven from within NATO itself. The objective on the table in fact is to allocate 5% of GDP to defense.
Beyond France. That France is betting on the military (even though it is voluntary, lasting only 10 months and with the commitment that participants will be deployed only on national missions) is news in itself, but it is even more so if it is put in the European context. Paris is not the first to move in that direction. Germany wants to activate a voluntary service, Belgium is sending thousands of letters to its teenagers to enlist, Denmark has begun to recruit women and Lithuania or Latvia have already made similar decisions.
In France Macron has public opinion in his favor. Surveys like this one released by the BBC show that the majority of citizens are in favor of voluntary military service. To be more precise, an Elabe survey concluded that 73% of the country views him favorably. The group in which the optional ‘military’ generates the most suspicion is that of young people between 25 and 34 years old (directly affected), but even among them the support is majority, 60%.
What has generated less consensus in the country is the salary announced by the Executive for volunteer soldiers, between 900 and 1,000 euros per month, a figure that, Francia Insumisa criticizes, is “well below the minimum wage.”
Images | Lucas Lemoine (Unsplash) and Elíseo
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