Macron to boost nuclear arsenal, involve European allies in doctrine change

PARIS, March 2 (Reuters) - France will increase the ​size of its nuclear arsenal and strengthen its deterrent, ‌with an increasing risk of conflicts globally crossing the nuclear threshold, President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

“We are currently experiencing a ​period of geopolitical upheaval fraught with risk,” Macron said ​in a speech delivered from a submarine base ⁠in Brittany, adding that a “hardening” of the French deterrence ​model was needed.

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Unveiling the update to France’s nuclear doctrine at a ​nuclear base on the Atlantic coast, Macron also said a “major” change would see more cooperation with European allies that have expressed interest, ​including Germany.

Germany but also Poland, the Netherlands, Belgium and ​Denmark would be able to take part in French nuclear wargames, Macron ‌said, ⁠although he made clear decision-making on nuclear strikes will remain solely in the hands of the French president.

The French leader added it would be possible to establish, under unspecified ​circumstances, strategic ​assets in other ⁠European countries that would be part of what he called a new “forward deterrence” doctrine.

Though ​France and Britain are both nuclear powers, ​most European ⁠countries rely primarily on the United States for deterring any potential adversaries — a decades-old pillar of transatlantic security.

But Trump’s rapprochement ⁠with ​Russia on the Ukraine war and ​his harsher posture towards traditional allies have rattled European governments.

Reporting by Michel ​Rose and Inti Landauro; Editing by Richard Lough, Aidan Lewis

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