William Molinié / Photo credits: GONZALO FUENTES / POOL / AFP
The French plan is for the army to be able in 2027 to project a division, or 19,000 men, in less than 30 days. Currently, only a thousand French soldiers are stationed in Cincu, Romania. They are the ones who would be able to be projected in a very short time, less than 48 hours, on the Ukrainian front.
Did Emmanuel Macron slip up at a press conference on Monday evening when he did not rule out the possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine? In any case, my criticisms were heard yesterday in the Hemicycle. So much so that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Séjourné, had to decipher the president’s words. There will be no fighters sent to Ukraine, the French army would not have the means anyway. Currently, only a thousand French soldiers are stationed in Cincu, Romania. They are the ones who would be able to be projected in a very short time, less than 48 hours, on the Ukrainian front. A thousand soldiers is obviously very few, compared to the 1,200 kilometers of front between Ukraine and Russia.
No point in entering into direct confrontation
The French plan is for the army to be able in 2027 to project a division, or 19,000 men, in less than 30 days. The Poles, too, will gain in capacity since they aim to become the largest European conventional army by 2030, with 300,000 soldiers.
But nothing compares with the Russian army which has more than 1,200,000 soldiers in its ranks. Even the Dutch Prime Minister candidate to head NATO has ruled out any possibility of sending ground troops to Ukraine. Overall, apart from the Baltic countries, no European country wants or imagines sending fighters to Ukraine. “I see it more as a message to the French, a call for action, rather than a real threat to Russia,” deciphers a senior officer. Especially since France and Russia are two nuclear powers. And that they have no interest at this stage in entering into direct confrontation.