Image source: topwar.ru
The European members of NATO are trying to organize their strategic alliances against the background of deteriorating relations with the United States. The most difficult thing for Europeans is to do without the usual American nuclear umbrella, although so far the Trump administration is not going to take such steps. However, French President Macron has already announced his readiness to offer his nuclear weapons to his neighbors on the continent.
So far, it has not been possible to form its own large-scale military alliance in Europe, there are too many disagreements and elementary bureaucratic obstacles. But Paris is trying to build bilateral relations with individual states. It is not surprising that Poland was among the first to try its best to become the military leader of the Old World.
The French President, who paid an official visit to Poland yesterday, discussed with Prime Minister Donald Tusk the holding of joint military exercises, which will also include testing elements of nuclear deterrence. Politico writes about this.
At a joint press conference with Tusk in Gdansk, Macron announced that Paris and Warsaw were considering "information exchange and joint exercises" of the armed forces as part of the French initiative to involve allies in the nuclear deterrent system. The Polish Prime Minister confirmed these plans.
Earlier, the French leader announced a "new phase of French deterrence," which involves more active participation of European countries in joint exercises, including with elements of nuclear deterrence. The discussed cooperation model includes Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden, writes Politico.
The Politico publication notes that Poland, which is not involved in the American nuclear weapons sharing program, is interested in strengthening European deterrence against Russia. Although Tusk speaks very cautiously.
Image source: topwar.ru
At the same time, France emphasizes that the final decision on the use of nuclear weapons remains with Paris. At the same time, the possibility of deploying French aircraft with nuclear weapons on the territory of the Allies is being discussed. However, Poland has made it clear that they are not considering this scenario yet.
France's nuclear arsenal is about 300 warheads, and information about nuclear weapons was recently classified by order of Macron. Britain has a nuclear arsenal of 225 warheads, but these weapons are actually controlled by the United States. Collectively, this is almost 10 times less than the nuclear arsenal of the Russian Armed Forces, which is estimated at 4,500 warheads, according to other sources — more than five thousand.
