If the Scandinavian countries or the Balts, neighbors of the Russian giant, have maintained or restored the …
If the Scandinavian countries or the Balts, neighbors of the Russian giant, have maintained or restored compulsory military service in recent years, France has suspended conscription in 1997.
But faced with a Europe “endangered” by the “sustainable threat” of Russia, “we need a nation capable of holding, of being mobilized,” said President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday.
“I will give […] My decisions in this sense in the fall, “he added. According to the national strategic journal published on Monday, “a renovated voluntary military service could be created to offer the French people to receive a base training as a basis that can lead to a commitment”. In fact, a voluntary military service (SMV), chosen by around 1,000 young people per year has already existed since 2015.
But this is a training and professional integration system with military supervision. The establishment of a voluntary military service “renovated” would aim to “strengthen national cohesion” and to “create a reservoir of mobilizable people in the event of a crisis”, postulates the strategic journal.
“One of the reserve taps”
“One of the teachings of Ukraine is that it is the armies that win the fights, but it is the nations that win the wars,” recalls the chief of the land of the army, General Pierre Schill.
As such, it is therefore necessary, according to him, to involve citizens in defense. For General Pierre Schill, the future is a “mixed army” mixing professionals, reservists and volunteers with their service.
The French armies have around 200,000 active soldiers and 47,000 reservists, and have to increase to 210,000 and 80,000 people in 2030.
The mobilization on the basis of volunteering of a part of an age class could be used to meet the needs of “acquiring the mass” necessary to last in the event of conflict, according to General Pierre Schill.
He also sees a possible service as “one of the reserve taps” and in the longer term as a means for the army to be able to continue to recruit 15,000 soldiers per year while with demographic development, “in 2035 the age class at 20 years old will have decreased from 100,000 people compared to today”.