President Emmanuel Macron said he will announce a new military service aimed at boosting French army numbers later this week.
Details are scant, but according to French media the scheme would be voluntary, remunerated and last 10 months. In an interview with local media he sought to reassure French people that the plan did not mean young people would be sent to fight in Ukraine.
We really need to, right now, dispel any misconception that we're going to send our young people to Ukraine, he said. That's not at all what this is about.
However, Macron stated the new framework was meant to address the desire for service among the youth - and to face the hybrid confrontation waged by Russia.
If we French want to protect ourselves... we must show that we are not weak in the face of one power that threatens us the most, he added.
No official details on the new military service have yet been shared, though it is expected Macron will elaborate on the proposal during a visit to an army base on Thursday. French media is reporting that the revamped voluntary military service could last 10 months. Volunteers will be paid between €900 (£790) and €1000 (£880) per month, according to La Tribune Dimanche.
Conscription in France was scrapped in 1996. The current iteration of the national service, the Service national universel (SNU), only includes two weeks of training followed by another two weeks of community work. It was introduced in 2019 but never gained much traction.
Raphaël Glucksmann of the centre-left Place Publique party said he was in favour of the proposal but suggested it should go further and be a universal and compulsory service - not necessarily military - which could create cohesion. The National Rally (RN)'s Sébastien Chenu supported the idea but insisted it should start with a mandatory three-month military service for boys and girls.
In recent comments, Gen Fabien Mandon, France's army chief-of-staff, raised alarms about the country's preparedness for conflict, attributing a lack of will to fight as a critical weakness in the face of potential threats. Macron has emphasized the importance of national unity in addressing these security concerns.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several European countries have reinstated military service programs, showing a significant shift in defense strategies across the continent.
Details are scant, but according to French media the scheme would be voluntary, remunerated and last 10 months. In an interview with local media he sought to reassure French people that the plan did not mean young people would be sent to fight in Ukraine.
We really need to, right now, dispel any misconception that we're going to send our young people to Ukraine, he said. That's not at all what this is about.
However, Macron stated the new framework was meant to address the desire for service among the youth - and to face the hybrid confrontation waged by Russia.
If we French want to protect ourselves... we must show that we are not weak in the face of one power that threatens us the most, he added.
No official details on the new military service have yet been shared, though it is expected Macron will elaborate on the proposal during a visit to an army base on Thursday. French media is reporting that the revamped voluntary military service could last 10 months. Volunteers will be paid between €900 (£790) and €1000 (£880) per month, according to La Tribune Dimanche.
Conscription in France was scrapped in 1996. The current iteration of the national service, the Service national universel (SNU), only includes two weeks of training followed by another two weeks of community work. It was introduced in 2019 but never gained much traction.
Raphaël Glucksmann of the centre-left Place Publique party said he was in favour of the proposal but suggested it should go further and be a universal and compulsory service - not necessarily military - which could create cohesion. The National Rally (RN)'s Sébastien Chenu supported the idea but insisted it should start with a mandatory three-month military service for boys and girls.
In recent comments, Gen Fabien Mandon, France's army chief-of-staff, raised alarms about the country's preparedness for conflict, attributing a lack of will to fight as a critical weakness in the face of potential threats. Macron has emphasized the importance of national unity in addressing these security concerns.
Since the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, several European countries have reinstated military service programs, showing a significant shift in defense strategies across the continent.
