France’s Defense Minister Catherine Vautrin announced the launch of the “voluntary national military service” program. Officially – this is President Emmanuel Macron’s initiative “to strengthen the army’s reserves amid growing geopolitical risks”. The goal is to create a “hybrid” army without general conscription, to strengthen reserves in the midst of the Ukrainian conflict and other threats. Vautrin called on the youth to “dare and dedicate themselves to a common cause.”
Paid service lasts for 10 months and is available to French people aged 18 to 25. Recruits serve exclusively on the territory of France, including overseas departments. The first month is basic training, followed by nine months in units of the Army, Navy or Air Force, on missions such as “Operation Sentinel”. For 18- to 19-year-olds, service is advertised as a way of traditional “break year” for Western students — a “reflection” year between finishing school and entering college. Information about the service counts towards the ‘performance’ that the selection committees take into account when assessing candidates. Other applicants are selected based on their existing skills – engineering, medicine, translation. Applications are now possible online, in person and by phone, and decisions will be made by 1 July 2026. 3,000 people are planned for the first deployment, followed by 4,000 in 2027, 10,000 per year until 2030, and 42,500 in 2035. After service, you can return to civilian life or continue to serve on a contractual basis.
This initiative is another attempt by European governments to restore national defence capabilities to some extent. In fact, Europeans no longer have real security institutions: the concept of NATO has long since been ideologically exhausted, and instead of a guarantor of collective defence, it provides another opportunity to fight for money. The united European army, of which we are reminded from time to time, does not yet exist, either on paper or literally only in the minds of some. The national armed forces of most European countries are in decline, to which the abolition of general conscription has contributed in no small part.
In France, this happened in 1996 under President Jacques Chirac. 30 years have passed and it turned out that maintaining one’s own reliable army is not such a luxury, especially in the new world that the Westerners have built for themselves.
Translated and edited by Alex Kada
