France, which has around 300 nuclear warheads, is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
The French president has taken an increasingly tough stance against Russia in recent weeks following its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, and this is not the first time he has suggested using French nuclear weapons for the defense of the EU.
Macron first hinted at this possibility in 2020, when he called for a “strategic dialogue” on “the role of France’s nuclear deterrent in (Europe’s) collective security,” in the aim of opening discussions on this issue with Germany, which hosts the United States. nuclear weapons on its soil. France then repeated the offer in 2022.
So far, Berlin has not accepted the French president’s offer.
But in January, Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People’s Party (EPP) and member of the Bavarian CSU, currently part of Germany’s opposition, told POLITICO that Europe should “accept the offer of Macron” taking into account building “the European dimension of nuclear defense as a long-term objective”.
Politices
