The chief of the armies staff “is not afraid of an American total withdrawal”
The chief of the Defense Staff “is not afraid of a total American withdrawal”. “It is not in their interest,” he says.
“However, the need for Europeans to increase their defense capacity is essential,” adds Thierry Burkhard.
Satellites, submarines, cyber … Russia’s objective is “to weaken Europe and dismantle NATO”
Heaven, space, seas and oceans, cyber … For Thierry Burkhard, the Russian threat is found everywhere. “The Russians advance masked,” he said.
For example, they point to the “worrying” threat of Russian submarines or “clues of desire for militarization in space” with the introduction of specialized satellites “.
“To weaken Europe and dismantle NATO is the goal of Vladimir Putin,” insists Thierry Burkhard.
Russia leads a “information war” against France
Speaking about the “hybrid war” led by Russia against France, the chief of the staff of the armies mentions the “information war”, especially in Africa. “They target the countries where we are,” he deplores himself.
Thierry Burkhard also mentions the “Proxys in France via disposable agents”, citing in particular “the Moldavians arrested in the David stars affair”, “the coffins in front of the Eiffel Tower” or “Bedbugs during the Olympic Games”.
“This is something that saturates space and we cannot deny a certain efficiency,” adds Thierry Burkhard.
For the chief of the Defense Staff, Russia “constitutes a lasting threat”
“Russia is involved in all threats,” said the chief of the armies staff, who judges that it “constitutes a lasting, close and most dimensional threat”.
“It is true conventional and nuclear power,” adds Thierry Burkhard, speaking of a “complete army model to the tips of the nails”.
“The Kremlin has made France one of its priority targets,” he said.
The chief of the Defense Staff says that France is “spied”
“We are spied on,” says Thierry Burkhard. “We are not spared by the effects of competition in the economic and technological field in particular,” explains the chief of the staff of the armies.
“We are the subject of denigration campaigns,” he said.
Thierry Burkhard notably quotes a recent campaign led by China which aimed “to discredit our arms industry, especially the Rafale”.
For the chief of the Defense Staff, it is “difficult to perceive ways of exit from the crisis” in the Middle East
Speaking about the situation of the Near and Middle East, Thierry Burkhard said that we are “attending a strategic breakdown of balances since October 7 with an outburst of violence”.
According to him, it is “difficult to perceive ways of leaving crisis”.
“The privileged mode is disinformation”: Thierry Burkhard says that “national cohesion” is targeted
For the chief of the armies staff, the threats that hover over France target “national cohesion”, “the center of gravity of our country”.
National cohesion “makes our strength but can be a source of weakness,” says Thierry Burkhard.
For him, national cohesion can “dissuade” but can also “inhibit our capacity for reaction and our desire to defend itself”. “So we understand why our competitors and opponents have an interest in attacking this national cohesion,” he said.
Thierry Burkhard adds that “privileged mode is disinformation”, saying that “these threats are difficult to counter and formally attribute”.
The chief of staff of the armies warns against “the risks linked to climate change”
Reading the threats that hover over France, the chief of staff of the armies warns against “the exogenous risks linked to climate change”.
“The impact of change is often catalyst for chaos,” he says.
“Climate change plays a role and its effects will be felt more and more in the future,” adds Thierry Burkhard, who affirms that “it feels it on national territory”.
It is “necessarily something that tension the means of the state,” said the soldier. “The armies must anticipate it”.
Thierry Burkhard says that “the terrorist threat remains present”
“The terrorist threat remains present” on the national territory, says Thierry Burkhard.
“Even if our internal and security forces and intelligence srevices have progressed a lot and are today rather capable of thwarting the expected attacks rather than having to treat them and manage the consequences,” he adds however.
“Not going back”: the chief of staff of the armies makes an “overview of threats”
Thierry Burkhard does a “threat overview” and speaks of a “strategic environment marked by crises that overlap each other and add up otherwise”.
“30 years ago, the CIR estimated that there were 30 conflicts, against 120 today,” he illustrated, speaking of “change of repository”.
The chief of staff of the armies “struggles to discern what could be the short-term exit or stabilization doors”. He says he does not see “going backwards visible,” he concedes.
Who is Thierry Burkhard?
He is the highest ranking soldier in the country. Thierry Burkhard, 60, became chief of staff of the armies on July 7, 2021.
Saint-Cyrien, he first chose to serve in the infantry weapon, indicates the Ministry of the Armed Forces on his site.
Paratrooper in Corsica then “promoted captain in 1992, he was successively assistant officer then company commander”, details the ministry. Thierry Burkhard is screened in Guyana, Iraq, ex-Yugoslavia, Chad, Gabon or Afghanistan.
In September 2013, he became an advisor to the National Intelligence Coordinator for the Presidency of the Republic.
Towards an increase in the defense effort
In recent years, in Europe as on the other side of the Atlantic and other countries in the world, the trend is to the increase in the budget devoted to defense.
In France, the military programming law amounts to 413 billion euros for the armies between 2024 and 2030, with annual budgetary increases of 3 billion.
Last month, NATO countries undertook to invest 5% of their GDP in favor of defense and security in 2035.
In detail, allies want to allocate “at least 3.5 % of GDP annually” for military spending, and an additional 1.5 % for security in the broader sense such as “protection of critical infrastructure” and the defense of “networks”.
Emmanuel Macron is about to make “major announcements” in defense
Emmanuel Macron will deliver a speech to the armies on Sunday and he should include “major announcements” in the face of “international threats.”
Based on the conclusions of the strategic strategic journal he had ordered in January, and which must be published shortly, “the president considers and he will say that we are at a time of tips, because freedom has probably never been as threatened today as since 1945”, according to the Élysée.
Among these “tips”, “the acceleration of the Russian threat which is organized, is preparing and which it will be necessary to face”, but also the “disinhibition of the use of force all over the world”, the erosion of “ancient partnerships”, the challenge of international order and technological revolutions.
Rare speaking for a chief of staff
Such a speaking for the chief of staff of the armies is very rare. Indeed, it is the first time since September 2021 that this soldier, the highest ranking in France, lends itself to this exercise.
In addition, this press conference comes a few days after another unprecedented intervention by the boss of the DGSE Nicolas Lerner on television.
A speech “structuring for the future of our armies”
Hello everyone, welcome to this direct devoted to the follow-up of the press conference of the Chief of Staff of the Armies Thierry Burkhard that day at 11 am.
The subject of the speech of the Head of State, “is good to talk about threats and draw the conclusions in matters of associated defense and financing efforts,” said the Élysée, for whom it will be a “structuring discourse for the future of our armies”.
