France’s top general on Thursday faced accusations of war-mongering after warning that the country must be ready to “lose its children” against the background of the threat posed by Russia.
The comments by chief of the defence staff General Fabien Mandon in a speech to local mayors on Tuesday have revived a debate over how far France and its European allies should be prepared to go in the conflict.
Russia and Ukraine have been at war since Moscow in February 2022 launched the full-scale invasion of its neighbour.
European powers, including France, have backed Ukraine with increasing supplies of weapons but have always insisted they are not directly involved in the conflict.
“We have all the knowledge, all the economic and demographic strength to deter the Moscow regime from trying its luck by going further,” said Mandon.
“What we lack, and this is where you have a major role to play, is the strength of spirit to accept suffering in order to protect who we are,” he told the mayors.
Paying tribute to French forces deployed worldwide, he added: “If our country falters because it is not prepared to accept — let’s be honest — to lose its children, to suffer economically because defence production will take precedence, then we are at risk,” he added.
“Yes to national defence, but no to unbearable warmongering rhetoric,” responded French Communist party leader Fabien Roussel.
Louis Aliot, deputy leader of the far-right National Rally, said: “I don’t think there are many French people who are ready to go and die for Ukraine.”
“It’s shocking,” said Christian Estrosi, the mayor of Nice and a member of the centre-right Horizons party which is part of Macron’s ruling coalition.
“Is it the role of the chief of staff of the army to worry the country in this way? It’s an act of weakness,” he told CNews.
But Defence Minister Catherine Vautrin said the remarks were “taken out of context for political purposes” and reflected the “military language” of a general who “every day knows that young soldiers risk their lives for the nation”.
Europe Minister Benjamin Haddad added that Mandon had given a “lucid and honest speech on the reality of the threat facing our country”.
Mandon had said: “Unfortunately, and I know this from the information to which I have access, Russia is today preparing for a confrontation by 2030 with our countries.”
“It is organising for this, preparing for this, and is convinced its existential enemy is NATO and our countries,” he added, warning that Russia was “uninhibited in its use of force” and “clearing in a phase of preparing something else”.
French officials, including President Emmanuel Macron, have repeatedly warned that Russia is seeking to push further if the invasion of Ukraine succeeds.
Authorities have tried to prepare the minds of the French for a war or crisis that would force them to make sacrifices, but the message is struggling to make inroads among a polarised population that feels far from the frontline and protected by a nuclear deterrent.
Benedicte Cheron, a historian and author of a forthcoming book on military service in France, said the country was scarred by being a “battlefield” in both world wars.
The French have “difficulty accepting the idea of massively committing forces, paying the price — deaths, injuries, economic cost — for anything other than protecting the territory from an invasion.”
The French government on Thursday meanwhile published a guide entitled “Everyone Responsible”, which says it provides “tools to help you prepare to face a major crisis” such as an external “aggression” or natural catastrophe.
It advised the French to prepare an “emergency kit” in a bag — to be checked twice a year — containing essentials like food, water and medicine as well as a battery-powered radio and games.
“Our society must adapt to become stronger,” it said.
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