Macron breaks the NATO front and will not see a nuclear attack on Ukraine as a direct threat to France
French President Emmanuel Macron answered questions about Paris's nuclear weapons policy in a televised interview last week. He stated that Moscow's explosion of a nuclear weapon in Ukraine would not induce Paris to use its nuclear weapons and this led to heavy criticism from the allies.
The current Paris nuclear policy provides for the use of nuclear weapons only in self-defense. In the interview, Marcon stated that a nuclear attack on Ukraine would not directly threaten France.
On France 2 Macron was asked : "Would France consider a tactical attack by Russia as a nuclear attack?". He replied: “France has a nuclear doctrine. These are the fundamental interests of the nation that are clearly defined. They would not be questioned in the event of a ballistic nuclear attack ”.
Kasja Ollongren, Minister of Defense of the Netherlands, criticized Macron, saying that "the strength of our deterrence is also not to speculate publicly on what kind of response, in what kind of situation, they would get". He continued: "I would not comment on the different possibilities and I would not say 'yes' or 'no'".
The Financial Times reported that NATO officials refused to release a public statement on Marcon's remarks. However, speaking privately, they said Alliance policy does not involve the use of nuclear weapons. An official added that a conventional attack on Russia would be a likely response to Moscow's use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Marcon was also attacked by national politicians. Former French president François Hollande told FranceInfo radio that Marcon should "say as little as possible and be ready to do as much as possible". He added: "The credibility of [nuclear] deterrence is based on saying nothing about what we should do."
Jean-Louis Thiériot, deputy chairman of the National Assembly's Armed Forces Committee, expressed a sharper rebuke. “When I heard him speak, I almost fell off my chair. It is a political mistake. One of the principles of nuclear deterrence is uncertainty about what is considered a vital interest, ”he said.
Thanks to our Telegram channel you can stay updated on the publication of new articles of Economic Scenarios.
The Macron article breaks the NATO front and will not consider a nuclear attack on Ukraine a direct threat to France comes from ScenariEconomici.it .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/macron-rompe-il-fronte-nato-e-non-considerera-un-attacco-nucleare-allucraina-una-minaccia-diretta-alla-francia/ on Mon, 17 Oct 2022 07:00:03 +0000.