President Emmanuel Macron has announced the reintroduction of a "voluntary" military service in France starting in 2026 to address "growing threats" against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine. Macron made the announcement with great military pomp, reviewing the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade in Varces and reaffirming "the importance of the nation's preparedness and its moral forces."
The new Voluntary National Service (VNS), similar to those implemented in recent years in Belgium and the Netherlands, aims to mobilize 3,000 young people starting next summer, with the goal of reaching 10,000 per year by the end of the decade and reaching 50,000 by 2035.
Voluntary enlistment is also open to French women over 18 years old. The voluntary military service will last ten months, and recruits will receive between 900 and 1,000 euros per month, equivalent to the minimum wage. Upon completing military training, they will have the option to join the professional army and move to the reserves for ten years.
The purpose of the new service, according to General Pierre Schill, Chief of Staff of the Army, is to "acquire the necessary mass" for the armed forces in the event of a war. France aims to increase the number of active military personnel to over 200,000 soldiers and nearly double the number of reservists to 80,000 by 2030.
Macron recalled in his speech how compulsory military service was suspended by Jacques Chirac in 1997, and justified the new "voluntary" model to "mobilize the nation" and "strengthen the capacity for resistance" against new threats.
"The end of the Cold War made a mass model unnecessary and required the modernization of a more professional army," declared Macron, who justified the creation of the new hybrid model. "Returning to compulsory conscription would neither be serious nor useful. The structural costs of that model had become disproportionate in relation to its effectiveness."
"The new model will serve to strengthen the defensive and defensive spirit of the nation," emphasized the president, who assured that voluntary military service is at the same time "a vote of confidence in the youth." Macron reiterated his desire to reach 50,000 recruits per year within a decade, "depending on how the threat evolves."
According to the French president, the new voluntary military service will allow 18 and 19-year-olds to "learn the basics of military life, acquire a spirit of discipline, train in the handling of weapons, and participate in all the rituals that promote the brotherhood of our Armed Forces and contribute to the greatness of the nation."
Once the initial training is completed in one month, the recruits will integrate for nine months "in the same missions as active-duty military within the national territory" and will serve to "strengthen operational needs," including Operation Sentinel in the face of the terrorism threat. The new military service will allow, according to Macron, "the creation of an effective and modernized army, capable of facing threats in all areas, an army with an active core and trained and selected youth."
"In this uncertain world where the law of the strongest prevails, war is a present reality", Macron concluded. "Our nation cannot afford fear, panic, lack of preparedness, or division. Fear never prevents danger. The only way to avoid it is to be prepared."
Political parties received the announcement with varying opinions. Center and right-wing parties supported the initiative, while La France Insoumise recalled the failure of the Universal National Service, created by Macron in 2019 with the aim of creating "national cohesion".
Meanwhile, 86% of the French population supports the creation of some form of military service, according to an Ipsos poll for Le Parisien. Support drops to 53% in the case of mandatory military service and decreases to 41% among the under 35 age group, directly affected by the "mobilization."