France to introduce voluntary military service amid threat from Russia

Macron says plan to introduce 10 months’ service among 18- and 19-year-olds will help France respond to ‘accelerating threats’

France is to introduce voluntary military service of 10 months aimed mainly at young people aged 18 and 19, as concern grows in Europe about the threat from Russia.

In a speech to troops in Varces-Allières-et-Risset in the French Alps, the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said the service would begin by mid-2026 and help France respond to “accelerating threats” on the global stage.

Almost 30 years after France scrapped conscription, Macron said he would not go back on that decision, but added: “We need mobilisation.”

“France cannot remain idle,” Macron said. He believed French youth had a “thirst for engagement”, saying there was a young generation “ready to stand up” for their nation.

Under the new military service, men and women, mostly aged 18 and 19, could volunteer to sign up for 10 months. They would be paid a minimum of €800 (£700) per month and receive food and accommodation, as well as a 75% discount on rail travel. They would be deployed “only on national soil”, Macron said. A minority with specific qualifications, for example in engineering or medical skills, could be aged up to 25.

There is so far no suggestion that military service in France could again be compulsory, as it was before the then president, Jacques Chirac, abolished conscription in 1997.

“We cannot return to the time of conscription,” Macron said. “This hybrid army model corresponds to the threats and risks ahead, bringing together national service youth, reservists, and the active army.”

The plan will cost €2bn, which Macron called “a significant and necessary effort”.

The scheme aims to bring in 3,000 volunteers in 2026, rising to 10,000 by 2030. “My ambition for France is to reach 50,000 youth by 2036, depending on evolving threats,” Macron said. After the programme, participants could integrate into civilian life, become a reservist, or stay in the armed forces, he said.

He said the plan was “inspired by practices of our European partners ... at a time when all our European allies advance in response to a threat that weighs on us all”.

The move is part of a broader shift across Europe, where nations who have long enjoyed the decades-long tranquillity of US security guarantees are concerned about Donald Trump’s shifting priorities and Russia’s aggressive posturing.

Macron’s announcement brings France in line with nearly a dozen other European nations such as Germany and Denmark who have launched similar projects.

Military service is seen as a way of bolstering armies with recruits, but also of providing a large pool of potential reservists, who could be called up in the case of a future war.

The French armed forces have approximately 200,000 active military personnel and 47,000 reservists, numbers expected to increase to 210,000 and 80,000 respectively by 2030.

Macron’s office said polling data suggested high support for the armed forces among 18- to 25-year-olds.

The president’s announcement comes after controversy over comments from Gen Fabien Mandon, France’s armed forces chief, who last week caused uproar when he said France needed to steel itself for possible future losses against Russian aggression.

“What we lack ... is the strength of character to accept suffering in order to protect who we are,” he said, adding France must “accept losing its children”.

Macron has sought to play down Mandon’s comments.

“We must absolutely, immediately, dispel any confused idea suggesting we are going to send our young people to Ukraine,” Macron told RTL radio on Tuesday, alluding to Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of the country.

Cédric Perrin, the president of the French senate’s foreign affairs, defence and armed forces committee, defended Mandon. Perrin told Reuters: “His remarks were taken out of context ... but if being a bit blunt is necessary to make the French understand the situation we are in, then he was right to do it.”

Clémence Guetté, of the leftwing party La France Insoumise, said of the new voluntary military service on RTL radio: “France isn’t at war and this can’t be the priority for young people.”

Sébastien Chenu, an MP for Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally party, said the new voluntary military service was “going in the right direction”.

Reuters and Agence France-Presse contributed to this report.