Macron’s speech to France and Europe? - nuclear deterrence protect us?

Introduction

What is Nuclear deference?

Nuclear deterrence is the cornerstone of U.S. national security. It has provided the essential foundation for our defense strategy and safeguarded U.S. allies since 1945. It underpins every military operation undertaken by the United States.

The U.S. nuclear deterrent comprises a robust arsenal of atomic weapons and delivery systems, sophisticated nuclear command, control, and communications (NC3), along with the skilled personnel and critical infrastructure that sustain it all.

While we have not employed nuclear weapons since World War II, the United States actively leverages its nuclear deterrent daily to maintain global peace.

The nuclear age began with the use of the atomic bomb in 1945, spiraling into a nuclear arms race with the Soviet Union and reaching a peak with the last U.S. nuclear explosive test in 1992, marking the end of the Cold War.

In the post-Cold War era, our focus has shifted to effectively sustaining nuclear deterrent systems without further underground atomic testing.

2010 marked a significant change in the United States' nuclear posture. The 2010 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) downplayed the role of atomic deterrents in our national security strategy, citing a perceived less dangerous security environment.

However, this assessment was misguided, as the security landscape has only become more competitive over the last decade.

The 2018 NPR drew attention to Russia's resurgence and China's emergence as strategic competitors and potential adversaries. In light of these unmistakable threats, the NPR emphatically underscored the urgent need for modernizing our nuclear deterrent.

Our strategic competitors have not stood idle; they have been actively modernizing, developing, testing, and deploying advanced systems for their nuclear deterrents for over a decade.

Russia is aggressively modernizing its nuclear arsenal alongside other non-nuclear strategic systems, which includes new road-mobile and silo-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), advanced missiles, bombers, and cruise missiles.

Moreover, Russia is currently testing unprecedented nuclear capabilities, such as hypersonic glide vehicles, nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed cruise missiles, and nuclear-powered uncrewed underwater vehicles.

Simultaneously, China is modernizing and significantly expanding its robust nuclear forces, signaling the resurgence of Great Power competition.

China is diligently developing, testing, and fielding next-generation land-based ballistic missiles, enhancing the range of its submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and pursuing advanced bombers. It is also investing significant resources into advanced nuclear-capable systems and hypersonic vehicles, affirming its intent to compete globally.

Macron Speech on March 5th 2025

Frenchwomen, Frenchmen, my dear compatriots:

I am speaking to you this evening in light of the international situation and its consequences for France and for Europe, and doing so after several weeks of diplomatic action. You are legitimately concerned about the historic events that are disrupting the world order.

The war in Ukraine, which has resulted in nearly a million deaths and injuries, continues with the same intensity. The United States of America, our ally, has changed its position on this war. It is supporting Ukraine less and engendering doubts about what will happen next. At the same time, the same United States of America intends to impose tariffs on products from Europe. The world continues to grow more brutal, and the threat of terrorism has not abated. Overall, our prosperity and security have become more uncertain.

It must be said that we are entering a new era.

The war in Ukraine has now been going on for more than three years. From the very first day, we made the decision to support Ukraine and sanction Russia, and we were right to do so, because it is not just the Ukrainian people who are fighting courageously for their freedom, it is our security that is under threat. If a country can invade its neighbor in Europe with impunity, there is no security for anyone. The law of the jungle would apply, and peace could no longer be guaranteed on our continent. History has taught us this.

Beyond Ukraine, the Russian threat affects the countries of Europe. Affects us.

Russia has already transformed the Ukrainian conflict into a global conflict. It has mobilized North Korean soldiers and brought Iranian equipment to our continent, while helping those countries further arm themselves. President Putin’s Russia violates our borders to assassinate opponents. It manipulates elections in Romania and Moldova. It is organizing digital attacks against our hospitals to impede their operation. Russia is trying to manipulate our opinions by spreading lies on social media.

Basically, it is testing our limits, and it is doing so in the air, at sea, in space and behind our screens. This aggression seems to recognize no borders. Meanwhile, Russia continues to rearm, spending more than 40 percent of its budget for this purpose. By 2030, it plans to further increase its army, to have 300,000 additional soldiers, 3,000 tanks and 300 more fighter planes.

Who can believe, in this context, that today’s Russia will stop at Ukraine?

Russia has become—now and for years to come—a threat to France and to Europe. I deeply regret this, and I am convinced that in the long term, peace will be achieved on our continent, with a Russia that is once again pacified and calm. But the situation that I am describing to you is this one, and we must deal with it.

Faced with this world of dangers, it would be madness to remain spectators. We must now make decisions about Ukraine without further delay—for the security of the French, for the security of Europeans.

First, for Ukraine. Initiatives promoting peace are heading in the right direction, and we welcome this progress. We must continue to help the Ukrainians resist until they can negotiate a solid peace with Russia—for themselves and for all of us. This is why the path to peace cannot involve abandoning Ukraine. Quite the contrary. Peace cannot be concluded at any price and under Russian diktat. Peace cannot mean the capitulation of Ukraine. It cannot mean its collapse. Nor can it mean a too-fragile cease-fire.

And why? Because here, too, we have experience from the past. We cannot forget that Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in 2014, that we then negotiated a ceasefire in Minsk, that the same Russia did not respect this ceasefire, and that we were not able to maintain it, due to the absence of robust guarantees.

Today, we can no longer take Russia at its word.

Ukraine has a right to peace and security for its own sake. It is also in our interest, and it is in the interest of security in Europe. This is why we are working with our British, our German, and our other European friends. This is why you saw me, in recent weeks, gathering several of them in Paris and going to meet them a few days ago, in London: to consolidate the necessary commitments for Ukraine. Once a peace that ensures Russia will not invade Ukraine again is signed, we must prepare for it.

This will certainly involve supporting the Ukrainian army over the long term.

It will also, perhaps, involve deploying European forces. They would not go to fight today, they would not go to the front line. But they would be there after the signing of the peace treaty, to guarantee that it is fully respected.

Starting next week, we will bring together, in Paris, the chiefs of staff of the countries that wish, in this regard, to accept their responsibility. This is a plan for a solid, lasting, verifiable peace—one we have prepared with the Ukrainians and several European partners—and I have defended this plan across Europe and in the United States, fifteen days ago. I want to believe that the United States will remain by our side. But we must be ready if this is not the case.

Whether peace in Ukraine is achieved quickly or not, the European states must, given the Russian threat that I have just described to you, be able to defend themselves better and deter any new aggression. Whatever happens, we must equip ourselves better, and improve our defensive position, for the sake of peace itself—to deter.

In this respect, we remain committed to NATO and our partnership with the United States of America, but we must do more to strengthen our independence in defense and security. The future of Europe does not have to be decided in Washington or Moscow.

And yes, the threat is returning from the East. The innocence, so to speak, of the last thirty years, since the fall of the Berlin Wall, is now over.

In Brussels tomorrow, at the extraordinary council that will bring together the 27 heads of state and government [of the EU] with the [European] Commission and the President of the [European] Council, we will take decisive steps. A number of decisions that France has been urging for years will be made.

Member states will be allowed to increase their military spending without taking into account their deficit limit. Massive joint financing will be furnished to purchase—and produce, on European soil—munitions, tanks, weapons, and some of the world’s most innovative equipment. I have asked our government to be mobilized so that this both strengthens our military as quickly as possible and accelerates our re-industrialization in every region. In the coming days, I will bring together the relevant ministers and industrial partners.

We have argued for the past eight years that Europe must be capable of defending itself. This is now becoming a reality. This means European countries will be more ready to defend and protect themselves, will jointly produce the equipment they need on their own soil, will increase their cooperation, and reduce their dependency on the rest of the world—and this is a good thing. Germany, Poland, Denmark, the Baltic States, and many of our partners have announced unprecedented efforts in military spending.

With action now underway, France has a special status. We have the most effective army in Europe, and thanks to the choices made by our elders after the Second World War, we are equipped with nuclear deterrence capabilities. This means we are much better protected than many of our neighbors. Furthermore, we didn’t wait for the invasion of Ukraine to notice that we live in a worrying world. Thanks to the two military spending laws I proposed and for which successive parliaments voted, we have doubled our Armed Forces budget in nearly ten years. But given the evolution and acceleration of threats that I just described, we must make new budgetary choices. Further investment has now become essential.

I have asked the government to work on this as quickly as possible. These new investments will require the mobilization of private and public funding, without increasing taxes. To do this, we will need reforms, choices, and courage.

Our nuclear deterrent protects us. It is complete and sovereign—French from start to finish. Since 1964, it has always, explicitly, played a role in preserving peace and security in Europe. But in response to the historic call of the future German Chancellor, I have decided to open a strategic debate on the protection of our allies on the European continent through our deterrent. Whatever happens, the decision has always been and will remain in the hands of the President of the Republic, [who is] head of the armed forces.

Controlling our destiny, becoming more independent—we must work toward this militarily, but also economically. We must have economic, technological, industrial, and financial independence. We must be prepared for the United States to levy tariffs on European goods, as they have just done to Canada and Mexico. This incomprehensible decision—for both the American economy and ours—will have consequences for some of our sectors.

It increases the challenge of this moment, and it will not go unanswered by us. While preparing our retaliation with our European colleagues, we will continue, as I did two weeks ago, to try everything to convince the President of the United States of America that this decision would harm us all. I hope to persuade and dissuade him.

In sum, it has been many decades since we’ve had to make the kinds of decisions this moment demands of us. About our agriculture, our research, our industry, all of our public policies—we cannot have the same debates as before. This is why I asked the Prime Minister and his government—and I invite all the political, economic, and trade union forces in the country to work alongside them—to offer proposals in light of this new context. Tomorrow's solutions cannot be yesterday’s habits.

Conclusion of speech

My dear compatriots

Faced with these challenges and these irreversible changes, we must not succumb to excess of any kind, neither the excess of the warmongers, nor the excess of the defeatists. France will follow only one path, pursuing peace and freedom, faithful to its history and its principles.

This is what we believe for our security, and this is also what we believe to defend democracy, a certain idea of ​​truth, a certain idea of ​​free inquiry, of social respect, a certain idea of ​​freedom of expression that is not about hate speech, a certain idea of ​​humanism. This is what we have inherited and what is at stake.

Our Europe has the economic strength, the power, and the talent to meet the challenges of this era, and whether we compare ourselves to the United States of America or, a fortiori, to Russia, we have the means. We must therefore act by being united as Europeans and determined to protect ourselves.

This is why the homeland needs you, your commitment. Political decisions, military equipment and budgets are one thing, but they will never replace the strength of a nation’s soul. Our generation will no longer receive the dividends of peace. It falls to us to ensure that our children reap the dividends of our commitment, tomorrow.

So let us face things, together.

Long live the Republic.

Long live France.

Take-away form Macron speech

Toward a United, Sovereign Europe

Macron’s speech culminated in a call for Europe to shed its illusions and embrace its destiny as a geopolitical power. By intertwining military, economic, and civic strategies, he presented a roadmap for autonomy that acknowledges both the urgency of Russian aggression and the unreliability of U.S. patronage.

Critics may question the feasibility of his nuclear sharing proposal or the EU’s ability to reconcile divergent national interests. However, the address undeniably marks a watershed moment—one where Europe’s largest nuclear power openly champions continental unity over go-it-alone exceptionalism.

As Macron concluded, “The solutions of tomorrow cannot rely on the practices of the past”. Whether Europe heeds this call will determine not only Ukraine’s fate but the continent’s place in an increasingly fractured world order.