More independence from the USA: Macron calls for European nuclear deterrence

The Ukraine war shows the gaps in Europe's defense architecture.

More independence from the USA: Macron calls for European nuclear deterrence

The Ukraine war shows the gaps in Europe's defense architecture. France's President has renewed his offer to his neighbors to agree on a joint nuclear deterrent. Macron is also interested in more independence from the United States. So far, Germany has been hesitant about this.

French President Emmanuel Macron has again offered Germany and other EU partners talks on nuclear deterrence in the EU. This could be about the European dimension of France's nuclear deterrence, the head of state explained at the Munich Security Conference. The current Russian aggression against Ukraine is a reminder of the important role nuclear weapons have and must continue to have in the European Union.

Macron recalled that he had already made the offer in early 2020. At the time, however, European partners like Germany reacted cautiously. Since Great Britain left on January 31, 2020, France has been the only remaining nuclear power in the EU. Macron has long been demanding that Europe should make itself more independent of the superpower USA.

In Munich, the French head of state also spoke out in favor of trying to negotiate a follow-up agreement to the INF treaty, which was dissolved by the USA, on a ban on land-based intermediate-range nuclear weapons. Europe must sit at the table in future negotiations of this kind, he added, noting that only the USA and Russia were contracting parties to the INF Treaty. It must be ensured that in future Europe is involved in all discussions about arms control treaties.

The INF treaty banned Russia and the US from producing, testing and owning ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges between 500 and 5500 kilometers. The United States terminated the agreement at the beginning of February with the backing of NATO partners on August 2, 2019 because they assume that Russia has been violating it for years with a medium-range system called SSC-8 (Russian: 9M729).

Unlike Paris, Chancellor Olaf Scholz is pushing ahead with the development of European air defense. In mid-October, 15 countries signed a corresponding declaration of intent. France had been invited but declined to participate. Macron stressed that he believes his country's nuclear deterrence is sufficient.

France is developing its own missile defense system together with Italy and is bothered by the fact that Germany also wants to use Israeli and US technology. "We would rather see Europe relying on its strategic autonomy," said the Élysée Palace. Berlin counters that the systems that are currently available have to be used and that it would take too long to develop your own solution.