"Russia has designated France as its main target in Europe", warned the Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces, Thierry Burkhard, in an unusual press conference ahead of President Emmanuel Macron's Defense speech on Sunday, a day before the national holiday of July 14th.
General Burkhard has stated that his intention is not to "scare the French people," but rather to raise awareness among the population about "the lasting, close, and significant threat" posed by Russia, following Macron's line of thought in his speech last March where he repeatedly referred to "the Russian threat."
"Russia is a conventional and nuclear power and possesses all the attributes of a totalitarian state, such as centralized decision-making capacity and population conditioning," warned the French Chief of Staff.
In his opinion, and parallel to the war in Ukraine, Russia is already waging "a hybrid war against Europe that includes disinformation and cyberattacks, actions in space and under the sea."
"Vladimir Putin's goal is to weaken Europe and dismantle NATO", he emphasized. "The war is already in Europe (...) By 2030, Russia will be a real threat to our borders."
The highest-ranking officer in the army urged the French to "clearly assess" the international situation. "In other parts of the world, the use of destabilization and force has become commonplace," he warned. "National awareness cannot be achieved without cohesion, if there is denial."
General Burkhard confirmed the "rearmament" of France with the aim of doubling the Defense budget (from 32.3 billion in 2017 to 67.4 billion euros in 2030) and for the first time in three decades exceeding 2% of GDP, with Macron's own goal of reaching 3.5%.
The intervention of the Chief of Staff, at the express request of the President himself, has paved the way for the speech that the French President will deliver on July 13th at seven in the evening from the Hôtel de Brienne, where he will make "important announcements in the current threat landscape," as indicated by sources from the Élysée.