Facing a large congregation of newly graduated military officers at the Ecole Militaire in Paris, President Emmanuel Macron said he was calling for a coordinated defense strategy in Europe where France's nuclear arsenal should play a central role.

Europe "cannot continue to be a spectator" when a global race is underway, he said, urging its allies to work for new international rules on armor control.

In his speech on Friday, he said that France's vital interests have a European dimension and that the dialogue is open to interested European partners.

"Our security also depends, inevitably, on a greater capacity for independent European action," said Emmanuel Macron.

He added that France has reduced its nuclear arsenal to fewer than 300 warheads.

French combat aircraft Rafale can carry nuclear warheads with nuclear warheads. Photo: Epa, Philippe Lopez

Global uncertainty

President Macron made it clear that France will not return to the NATO Alliance's Nuclear Defense Planning Framework. He said the dialogue with Britain on nuclear issues is already well established and will continue even after the Brexit.

However, Macron does not put this in the context of the EU, comments Ian Anthony, director of research on European security at Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, Sipri.

- I see this as a recognition that it is very unlikely that the EU can provide a framework for strategic dialogue in view of the different views of the Member States on nuclear weapons. He urges interested countries to come forward if they wish to participate in such a dialogue. It will be very interesting to see who - if any - who accepts the offer, says Ian Anthony to SVT News.

The play of the President of France comes in a situation of global uncertainty and rising tensions between the world's military forces.

Scrapped agreements

In August 2019, the armor control agreement INF between the US and Russia expired. The agreement was concluded in 1987 and is considered to be an important explanation for the fact that the Soviet Union and the United States did not attack each other with medium-range robots during the Cold War.

Macron said on Friday that he will continue "a gradual reconstruction of trust with Russia".

- But there is still no clarity on what he means by this, says Ian Anthony at Stockholm International Peace Research Insitute, Sipri.

Here you can explore the world's nuclear weapons in SVT Nyheter's special.