A limited form of military service will be re-introduced in France in response to growing fears of a confrontation with Russia.
More than 25 years after conscription was phased out, the plan will see young men and women volunteering for a paid 10 months of military training.
The only way to avoid danger is to prepare for it, President Emmanuel Macron said while announcing the plan at an infantry base near Grenoble in southeast France. We need to mobilize, mobilizing the nation to defend itself, to be ready and remain respected.
The new national service will be brought in gradually from next summer, mainly for 18- and 19-year-olds, who will receive at least €800 (£700) a month.
In this uncertain world where might triumphs over right, war is in the present tense, said Macron. The armed forces would benefit from motivated young French men and women, he added: It is an act of trust in our youth.
Initially, numbers will be restricted to 3,000 next year, but this should rise to 50,000 by 2035.
France currently has around 200,000 military personnel and a further 47,000 reservists. The new scheme should usher in a three-tier structure, comprising professionals, reservists, and volunteers.
The change brings France in line with other European countries that have launched military service schemes - with varying parameters - because of fears of Russian aggression.
Belgium and the Netherlands have introduced voluntary military service, and Germany is planning something similar.
Only this month, the Belgian defence ministry sent letters to 17-year-olds inviting them to volunteer for about €2,000 (£1,750) a month.
Further east, Lithuania and Latvia have compulsory schemes, with cadets chosen by lottery. Sweden, which recently joined NATO, has started a nine-to-15-month military service with selection on merit.
Some European countries, like Finland and Greece, have never stopped military service, while the Swiss are to vote on Sunday on replacing mandatory service for men with compulsory civic duty for all.
Others countries, including the UK and Spain, currently have no plans to re-introduce it.
French military chiefs are broadly in favour of the new measure, which they hope will create a reservoir of trained personnel able to back up professional soldiers and replace them in non-frontline tasks. It is also hoped many volunteers will stay on to lead full military careers.
The new military service moves us in the direction of hybridization of the armed forces, Thomas Gassilloud, president of the National Assembly's defence committee, said. We went too far in the direction of the all-professional.
The threat of a looming, if ill-defined, stand-off with Russia has become part of France's national discourse. The government has regularly raised the alert over below-the-radar incidents or attempts by Moscow to poison opinion via social media.
Recently, the newly appointed chief-of-staff, Gen Fabien Mandon, took the alarm to a new level when he said French military planning was built around the assumption of a confrontation with Russia in the next three or four years.
He went further last week, telling a gathering of mayors that what France lacked was the spirit of sacrifice, urging them to prepare opinion for the possibility of losing children in war.
Polls show a large majority of the public in favour of voluntary military service. An Elabe survey this week found that 73% supported the measure. Young people – aged 25-34 – were the least supportive, but even in this age group there was a 60% majority.
It was in 1996 that then-President Jacques Chirac took the decision to end military service, as part of the peace dividend from the fall of the Soviet Union.
Compulsory military training for young men had been part of national life since the French Revolution, which created the idea of the citizen-soldier.
A new scheme appears to enjoy a broadly favourable reception, but there are still questions over its funding – with a debt crisis looming over the country and parliament still unable to approve a 2026 budget.
