French President Emmanuel Macron said Monday that France will increase its stockpile of nuclear warheads – currently below 300 – marking the country’s first expansion of its nuclear arsenal since at least 1992, though he did not specify the size of the buildup.
"I have decided to increase the numbers of warheads of our arsenal,” Macron said at a military base at L’Ile Longue in northwestern France that hosts the country’s ballistic missile submarines.
Macron’s speech was aimed at spelling out how French nuclear weapons fit into Europe’s security amid concerns raised on the continent by recurring tensions with U.S. President Donald Trump.
European leaders have voiced growing doubts about U.S. commitments to help defend Europe under the so-called nuclear umbrella, a policy long intended to ensure that allies – particularly NATO members – would be protected by American nuclear forces in the event of a threat.
France is the only nuclear power in the European Union.
