On Thursday a UK ally announced a National Service plan for 18 to 19-years old to take part in a voluntary scheme from 2026 to be ready for the escalating war in Europe from Russia.
The National Service plan will aim to recruit 3,000 next year and by 2030 France wants the number increased to 10,000 troops.
Macron wants this number to “reach 50,000 youth by 2036, depending on evolving threats,” these soldiers will only serve in France and not overseas.
President Macron insisted that France “cannot return to the time of conscription.”
He added, “This hybrid army model corresponds to the threats and risks ahead, bringing together national service youth, reservists, and the active army.”
Macron said, “National Service plan issued to the threats and risks ahead” and the troops will be based at Varces military base in the French Alps as Europe is at a “great risk.”
“The day that you send a signal of weakness to Russia — which for 10 years has made a strategic choice to become an imperial power again, that’s to say advance wherever we are weak — well, it will continue to advance,” he told radio RTL.
Over the next two years Paris will spend €6.5 billion in extra military spending and by 2027 he aims for annual defence spending to hit €64 billion, this is double what France is currently budgeting for.
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