Clear doctrine of the use of nuclear weapons. This is a guarantee of EU safety

In the face of the threat from Russia and uncertainty from the USA, Europe will not be safe without nuclear weapons and the clear doctrine of its use – said expert Francois Heisbourg in Tuesday's article for the Le Grand Continent analytical portal.

The portal pointed out that in the face of the speeches of representatives of the US President Donald Trump's administration, who clearly said that the United States would be less and less involved in the security of Europe, the Old Continent must decide how to defend itself. A nuclear arsenal must be a means for this, “Heisbourg pointed out.

The author pointed out that the nuclear deterrence strategy so far was based on the United States and their arsenal. As part of NATO, part of the US nuclear arsenal is reserved to fulfill allied tasks.

Another solution is the development of the national nuclear program, but such a project would be contrary to the Nuclear Treaty (NPT). In Europe, the only owners of nuclear arsenal are France and Great Britain. Heisbourg pointed out that among the countries of the Old Continent, recently, Poland has not ruled out the possibility of considering the national nuclear weapon program. The author refers to the statement of Prime Minister Donald Tusk of March 7, 2025.

Tusk said in the Sejm at the time that Poland was seriously talking to the French about their idea of ​​nuclear umbrella over Europe. He also assessed that it is high time that we “bravely look at our possibilities about the latest weapons.” “A very serious race awaits us. And this is a security race, not a race to war,” he said.

According to Heisbourg, the third option would be to expand the French nuclear umbrella to other European countries. The purpose of such a project would be to oppose a possible opponent who has nuclear arsenal and secure other partners in Europe with whom France is associated with Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty and Art. 42-7 of the European Union.

The author of the analysis pointed out that the most important thing is to show the opponent, in this case Russia, that the European nuclear scares is not a fantasy. To lead to this, the French arsenal should be increased – because it includes ASMP rockets with nuclear heads attached to Rafale aircraft, it can be easily used outside the territory of France.

According to the analyst, the problem lies in determining the doctrine of the use of the arsenal. As part of NATO, it depends on partner countries (Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands), on which the arsenal is stored and their planes are responsible for the transport of weapons. The United States can also block the activation of a given bomb remotely. In addition, each NATO mission must be approved by the so -called Saceur.

In the case of France, the doctrine is state -owned and depends only on Paris. French President Emmanuel Macron in March referred to the possibility of expanding the nuclear umbrella to other European countries, but the initial debate in the National Assembly (lower Chamber of Parliament) showed that the rest of the political scene does not share the views of the head of state.

At the same time, Macron emphasized that France would make the final decisions, but as part of the state doctrine there is a European aspect, which was introduced by General Charles de Gaulle and it was a clarification of this part that the French president meant this part, “wrote Heisbourg.

The author suggested that the development of a French arsenal in order to create a European nuclear deterrence force could be carried out with the participation of Great Britain, which also has this kind of weapon. Registration giving legal authorization for this cooperation was included in the Treaty with Lancaster House contained in 2010. In addition, such a European project would also have to include other countries during exercise. Heisbourg noticed that a precedent had already occurred in this area, when the Italian plane participated in “Poker” exercises with the participation of nuclear troops. All this, however, requires a lot of work and systematization – the author pointed out.

Francois Heisbourg is an expert in the International Institute for Strategic Studies (Iiss) and Foundation Pour La Recherche Strategique. Earlier he worked, among others at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Defense Ministry. He has been awarded many times, including the National Order of Honorary Legion IV class. (PAP)

AWM/ MAL/ MHR/