Macron open to deploying nuclear bombers across Europe
Emmanuel Macron is open to deploying French warplanes armed with nuclear weapons to other European countries.
'We are ready to open this discussion. I will define the framework in a very specific way in the weeks and months to come,' the French president told TF1 television in a marathon three-hour interview on Tuesday night.
'The Americans have the bombs on planes in Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey,' he added, pointing to the US nuclear arrangements with Nato countries.
However, Mr Macron listed three conditions for such a move. 'France will not pay for the security of others' and it 'will not come at the expense of what we need', he said.
'The final decision will always rest with the president of the republic, as the head of the armed forces.'
Mr Macron insisted he had no intention of 'unleashing World War Three ' with Russia.
The Telegraph learnt of France's willingness to use its nuclear deterrent to help protect Europe in February, but the French defence ministry declined to confirm the possibility at the time.
A French official told The Telegraph that fighter jets carrying nuclear weapons could potentially be deployed to Germany as the US threatens to withdraw its forces from the Continent.
This would send a message to Vladimir Putin, while diplomats in Berlin suggested it would pressure Sir Keir Starmer to do the same.
'Posting a few French nuclear jet fighters in Germany should not be difficult and would send a strong message,' the source said in February.
Mr Macron's comments come after Friedrich Merz, the new German chancellor, called on Britain and France to extend their nuclear protection as he seeks 'independence' for Europe from Donald Trump's America.
America is believed to have about 50 nuclear bombs stored at the Incirlik air base in the south of the Nato member Turkey.
France is the EU's only nuclear-armed nation and its nuclear deterrent is currently independent from Nato, while Britain's forms a key part of the alliance's defence strategy.
Poland has already made clear it is keen to benefit from France's nuclear deterrent.
Mr Macron added: 'There has always been a European dimension in the consideration of what we call vital interests. We do not elaborate on this because ambiguity goes hand in hand with the deterrent.'
Elsewhere in the interview, the 47-year-old centrist leader also promised referendums on key issues as he outlined his aims for the remaining two years of his mandate.
Mr Macron first took office in 2017 and will step down in 2027 after serving the maximum two terms allowed under the constitution.
Since last July, he has struggled to remain relevant on the domestic stage after his decision to hold snap legislative elections backfired, leaving him without a majority.
He has recently won plaudits on the international front in seeking to bring an end to the three-year war sparked by Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
'We must help Ukraine defend itself, but we do not want to unleash a Third World War,' he said.
'The war must cease and Ukraine must be in the best possible situation to go into negotiations.'
'Zero mea culpa'
Mr Macron reserved his most strident comments for Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, who he accused of 'unacceptable' and 'shameful' behaviour in blocking aid to the Palestinians in Gaza.
'What the government of Benjamin Netanyahu is doing is unacceptable... There is no water, no medicine, the wounded cannot get out, the doctors cannot get in. What he is doing is shameful,' he said.
However, on Wednesday his performance was widely criticised by the opposition and the French press with Roland Cayrol, a political analyst, summing it up as: 'Zero mea culpa. Permanent self-satisfaction.'
Mr Macron ruled out staging a referendum on whether to reverse a pension reform to raise the legal retirement age from 62 to 64 and another mooted by his prime minister, Francois Bayrou, on getting a handle on French public spending. He promised others without going into details.
'No amount of justification could dispel last night's spectacle of impotence. Of an inability to set a course for the next two years,' remarked Patrick Cohen, a political commentator, on France Inter, the top state radio channel.
'There was talk of a new impetus, but it was more like a last will and testament.'
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