US EditionFrench president unveils new 10-month voluntary military service for volunteers aged 18 and 19
France plans to scale voluntary military service to 50,000 by 2035 to strengthen defense amid concerns over Russia, complementing professional forces and reservists.
- On November 27, 2025, President Emmanuel Macron unveiled a paid, voluntary 10-month national military service for young volunteers aged 18 and 19 at the Varces military base, calling it a limited revival of national service.
- France is boosting defences amid Russia's war in Ukraine, with President Emmanuel Macron saying, `In this uncertain world where might triumphs over right, war is in the present tense` and earlier this year signalling a voluntary military option for youth.
- After a one-month training, recruits will spend nine months assigned to units, then can join the reserve while continuing education or work within the three-tier structure.
- Initially 3,000 volunteers will start next year, rising to 10,000 by 2030 and 50,000 by 2035, with over 2 billion euros in the 2026-2030 budget and 6.5 billion euros extra next two years.
- The plan still needs parliamentary approval and Gen. Fabien Mandon, France's chief of staff, sparked outcry last week with warnings, while an Elabe survey found 73% support and Macron reassured no deployment to Ukraine.
141 Articles
141 Articles
A "purely military" national service will be set up in the summer of 2026 for young major volunteers. The President of the Republic has found the guideline of his term of office: the preparation of the country for war. A way to become audible on the interior stage, it is hoped to the Elysée.
France will launch voluntary military service for young people next year. The initial goal is to have ten thousand servicemen per year.
Critics of the SNU, the socialists are now not opposed to the project of Emmanuel Macron, when LFI defends a "citizen conscription, with a military component on volunteerism".
TRIBUNE. Emmanuel Macron announced on 27 November the creation of a ten-month voluntary national service, open to young people. In a forum in the "World", the politician Martial Foucault sees it as an attempt by the president to gain the support of French society for a culture of defence and national security.
This voluntary military service will begin in 2026. Le Parisien explains its unfolding and the conditions for participating in it.
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