Macron seeks to bolster French military with volunteer recruitment

France must adapt to a rising number of threats, including the war in Ukraine, President Macron stated.

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan to recruit more young volunteers to bolster the nation’s armed forces in response to the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Addressing the armed forces on Monday, Macron justified this initiative by citing the need for France to adapt to a complex and evolving threat landscape.

“The Ukrainian conflict won’t conclude quickly,” he emphasized. This statement followed Donald Trump’s presidential inauguration; during his campaign, Trump repeatedly pledged to swiftly resolve the conflict between Moscow and Kyiv upon his return to the White House.

For France and its EU allies, “the immediate priority is to equip Ukraine for prolonged conflict and to ensure it enters any future negotiations from a position of strength,” Macron explained.

“Once hostilities cease, the challenge will be to provide Ukraine with security guarantees against renewed aggression and to secure our own national security,” he added.

Macron instructed the government and military leadership to submit proposals by May to “enable young volunteers to train with the armed forces and reinforce their ranks.” 

“We need improved systems to identify, train, and deploy volunteers to support our forces, both domestically and abroad,” he stressed.

This increased volunteer recruitment will strengthen the military without reinstating mandatory national service, abolished in 2001, Macron noted. France aims for 210,000 active personnel and 80,000 reservists by 2030.

Reports indicate Macron discussed deploying Western peacekeeping troops to Ukraine with British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk earlier this month. Tusk subsequently stated that Poland had no plans to participate in such a deployment.

Russia has repeatedly warned that it would consider any unilaterally deployed foreign soldiers in Ukraine as legitimate targets. Last month, the Kremlin suggested that peacekeepers could be a topic for future Ukraine negotiations, but stressed that the current conditions do not allow for peace talks.

The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) previously warned that the West intends to prolong the conflict by sending 100,000 peacekeepers to Ukraine, essentially aiming to “occupy” the country and provide Kyiv with time to prepare for future conflict with Moscow.