"If our country falters because it is not ready to accept losing its children" - General Mandon's full speech

The full text of General Fabien Mandon's speech at the Congress of Mayors of France, calling on mayors to help prepare the citizenry for a potential war against foreign enemies.

Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, General Fabien Mandon, speaking at the Congress of French Mayors (Photo by Chef d’état-major des armées)

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Editor Note: This text has been translated from Le Point’s copy

Ladies and gentlemen, mayors of France, I am truly impressed. Impressed because you represent our territories. You represent all the young women and young men who have chosen to wear the uniform of the French armed forces. So, I feel a little as though I am speaking to our country in all its dimensions, and to all those who also represent the youth who are engaged today in the armed forces and whom I have the honour to command. But if I accepted this exchange, or this moment with you, it is because, for me, the moment is particularly serious.

I do not want to paint too dark a picture, but the President of the Republic asks me to enable him to protect the French people, to protect our interests, to protect our country in all circumstances. Naturally, I observe developments beyond our borders. And quite sincerely, today, I see that everything that had been anticipated about our country, found in major strategic assessments of our environment, is now materialising and, unfortunately, the deterioration is accelerating.

It is important for our population, and therefore important for you, who are the first point of contact with our fellow citizens, to have this moment in which I share with you what I perceive of the world and the security challenges we face.

First of all, a brief overview among us of what is happening around us, and then, perhaps in a second stage, in practical terms, what we can do together to help our country meet these challenges.
The first major phenomenon: we are seeing a disengagement of the United States from Europe. This is something that, for us, was almost unimaginable because it is the country of freedom, a close country, a country that participated in our liberation from German occupation, a country with which we have extraordinary relations in every field.

Yet, under several successive American presidents, consistently, we can see that in the field of defence, the United States is concentrating on Asia. A few weeks ago, the Americans decided to withdraw their troops from Romania, where they had several thousand soldiers, at a time when war is taking place on our continent. The Romanians were threatened by the Russians at the beginning of the attack on Ukraine. The Americans are withdrawing forces from NATO’s eastern flank. They are not withdrawing entirely. It is not a brutal disengagement, which will allow optimists to hope they will stay.

But the film, if we look at it over the last twenty years, shows an inexorable shift towards Asia, with high-quality military partners with whom I regularly speak. They tell me: “We are concerned about the evolution of China.” I know that, for you, China is already an economic presence, with timber exploitation, commercial relationships, opportunities. And we all observe the Chinese economy, which is now very present. We see Chinese vehicles on our roads, with a shift from “made in China” to “made by China”, our children and parents holding Huawei phones in their hands.

China is a demographic power, you know this, it’s nothing new. It has become a major economic power and, in military terms, China poses a military challenge to the United States. It has been able to perfect itself in every field. For those who watched the very staged images from 3 September in China, when the Chinese president welcomed a group of leaders, he paraded what is today the best military equipment in the world, from drones to satellites, to ballistic missiles, to forces marching with extraordinary discipline and order. He demonstrated his military power.

For now, China is not using it. It remains in a form of soft power that asserts itself gently in its immediate environment, and which often expands its influence through economic approaches, gaining a little more hold, a little more influence. I am thinking in particular of our overseas territories, Polynesia and New Caledonia, where resource pressure is exercised softly but firmly. Today, when I look at the penetration of exclusive economic zones around New Caledonia or around Polynesia, in the areas where the French armed forces are present, our sovereignty is respected, but everywhere else, predation occurs: fishing, natural resources. And China is one of these predatory actors.

You have two major actors gradually distancing themselves from Europe in terms of priorities, to focus on China, which is asserting itself as a power, with the risk of confrontation with the United States. Today, in the Pentagon, there is a clock visible to all officers stationed there, counting down the days until 2027, because for the United States, in 2027, China seizes Taiwan and enters into confrontation. What I want to say is that this is not solely intelligence analysis. You have the world’s leading power openly displaying at the heart of its defence strategy a 2027 horizon and possible confrontations. For me, this is the first major element in the evolution of our context that will define the parameters of our security.

Yesterday, we hosted President Zelensky in Paris. It is war on our continent. For almost four years now. In 2008, Russia decided to attack Georgia. In 2014, it seized Crimea. In 2022, it launched another attack on Ukraine, seizing four regions which it has now almost entirely conquered. When we look at this film, there is no reason to imagine that this is the end of war on our continent. Unfortunately. Unfortunately, Russia today, this I know from the information to which I have access, is preparing for a confrontation by 2030 with our countries. It is organising for it, preparing for it, and it is convinced that its existential enemy is NATO, and therefore our countries.

I continue my overview by leaving our continent and going to Africa. Today, we naturally see all the consequences of climate change and economic disparities that cause migratory pressure, climate challenges, natural disasters which will continue and may destabilise states and trigger potentially wider regional crises.
A second phenomenon: not long after the sombre commemoration of the Daesh terrorist attacks in Paris. Today, the terrorist leaders who were once based in the Levant, the Near and Middle East, and in Afghanistan, are now in Africa. An Africa in which the Sahara region is profoundly destabilised, with numerous juntas coming to power, unable to stabilise security in their own countries. You will remember that twelve years ago, we intervened in Mali to prevent Bamako from falling into jihadist hands. Today, there are jihadists preventing the capital Bamako from being supplied with fuel, with a junta that has called on Russian expeditionary forces to protect itself and attempt to restore security. They are not succeeding.

However, they are succeeding very well in appropriating all the wealth of the country. We observe that the drone techniques used today on our continent in the war between Ukraine and Russia, the ability to use drones carrying explosive charges, are being learned by terrorist groups in the Sahel. So here too, on our southern shore, there are worrying developments for our security. Today, we do not have attacks being prepared and organised from the African continent, but there is a worrying evolution in the reach of terrorist groups over entire regions. Pressure is now being exerted on the coastal states of Atlantic Africa, and we know that we also have a problem on the Horn of Africa.

In the Near and Middle East, the situation is not good either. Unfortunately, you all witnessed the terrible attack of 7 October against Israel, barbarity in its purest form, the most absolute barbarity. This was followed by a conflict that gradually expanded from Gaza to the entire region, with bombings and missile exchanges between Iran and Israel, in Yemen, threatening the circulation of global economic flows in the Red Sea, where our frigates intervene, where our aircraft operate to protect commercial traffic. Inevitably.

This picture is very dark, and I am sorry for that, but I believe it must be said. I believe it must be said. Because we have been fortunate to grow up and live in a peaceful world. Our societies, which lived through the horror of two world wars, have lived for decades in a pacified environment, believing that peace was definitively acquired. Unfortunately, everything happening around us shows that some have chosen force.

Russia today is convinced that Europeans are weak. It is convinced of it. Yet we are strong. We are fundamentally strong. We are fundamentally stronger than Russia. But we must accept that we live in a risky world, and that we may have to use force to protect who we are. This is something that had completely disappeared from our family discussions, I think. I imagine that, in your municipalities, it is rare that our fellow citizens spontaneously talk about the danger posed by Russia. Terrorism has deeply marked us.

I believe that the actions of our soldiers, of internal security forces, and of Sentinelle patrols, for those who see them, remind us of the terrorist threat. The main threat today is a form of weakness in the face of a Russia unashamed in its use of force and which will push its advantage if it senses that we remain weak.

Russia at the start of the conflict in 2022 had fewer than one million men and women in uniform. Their projection for 2030 is close to two million. Forty percent of its economy goes to the defence industry. Today, Russia produces more defence equipment than it consumes on the front. It is clearly in a phase of preparing for something else. But Europeans collectively are far stronger than Russia. This is why I believe we must absolutely not be pessimistic. Europeans together represent more than 1.4 million men and women in uniform, ready to defend their countries’ values. It is an extraordinary industry. In France, we have technicians, engineers, business leaders who know how to produce the best in the world.

I will take the example of a system presented yesterday to the Ukrainian president. One of the main threats today in Ukraine is the nightly barrage of drones and missiles fired from Russia toward Ukraine, aimed at energy centres, electricity infrastructure, training centres, cities, to break Ukrainian morale. Europe has created in recent years a system called SAMP/T, built with the Italians and also in cooperation with the United Kingdom.

I think everyone has heard of the American Patriot systems. They symbolise the ability to protect against missiles and aircraft. The Ukrainians now tell us that the system made by Europeans, and therefore by French engineers and technicians, works better than the best American systems. We have all the knowledge, all the economic and demographic strength to deter the Moscow regime from trying its luck further.

What we lack, and this is where you play a major role, is strength of spirit to accept that we may have to accept suffering ourselves to protect who we are. The armed forces are an extract of the nation. The men and women deployed around the world today are between 18 and 27 years old on the ground. They are young, they come from your municipalities, they have the same aspirations, and they will hold in their missions if they feel the country stands with them.

If our country falters because it is not ready to accept losing its children, because we must say things as they are, or to suffer economically because priorities will go to defence production, for example, if we are not ready for that, then we are at risk. But I think we have the strength of spirit. France has always demonstrated its strength of spirit in difficult times.

And now is the moment when we must talk about it.

It must be discussed in your municipalities. Because spontaneously, these are not topics for a Sunday read; they are not easily accessible. One may feel that it is far away. It is true that it remains far away. The mechanism is not Russian tanks arriving in Alsace. The mechanism is one of solidarity, solidarity with countries today on NATO’s eastern flank that could be attacked, and whom we will protect out of solidarity. And from the moment we commit to solidarity, at that moment we commit the young women and young men who have chosen to serve in uniform.

I have given the armed forces the objective of being ready within three to four years, but I need the nation to be ready to support this effort. I am convinced that if our enemies see our determination to defend ourselves, to protect our values and our history, they will look elsewhere because they know we are stronger. But we must demonstrate it, and the next three years are crucial. It is fundamental.

You now have the most capable armed forces in Europe. France can take pride in having Europe’s reference army. Europeans observe us, and the right scale to meet the challenges I have mentioned is the collective. As in sport, one cannot be the best ally in rugby without the whole team alongside. One cannot play rugby individually; it is a team effort. In the same way, our defence will be strong if we act collectively with Europeans, and France has a leadership role because it is seen as a leader in Europe in this area.

The third point is the link with our country, the link with our nation. It is the choice of engagement by reservists. You know that the armed forces comprise 200,000 people, statistically five people per municipality. If I divide it out, it’s not much. It is a lot, but it is not much.

Beyond these 200,000 military personnel, you have reservists, and we are going to double the size of our reserves in the coming years: we will move towards 420,000 reservists. These reservists also come from your municipalities; they are part of the nation’s living strength. You have a particular role, and this is the last part of my remarks. I believe you have a fundamental role. Again, I strongly believe in teamwork.

We can discuss defence in Paris, it is essential. It is conceived here, shaped here. But our fellow citizens need to be able to speak with you, and you need to be able to explain what you have perceived of defence issues, because our defence is built locally. Awareness is local. And you are the best relays; you are those with the courage in your mandate and who are in contact with our fellow citizens.

So I need you to share this vision. It will inevitably raise concerns and questions. You have defence correspondents. I think we are in a moment when defence correspondents have a major role. There have been peaceful periods in which this role may have been one of the last priorities in your mandates or in your choices. Today, defence plays a key role in the debate, and I am well aware of the extent to which our nation is making efforts for its defence.

These are taxes that strengthen our defence, which, in my view, is necessary and which, for me, is a daily requirement in making the best possible use of public money and the nation’s effort. But it must be explained. I do not believe it is spontaneous for our fellow citizens to understand that the effort in French defence represents jobs, added value for our regions, our departments, our municipalities, because France is sovereign, meaning that it wants to retain control of its destiny. Our defence apparatus depends on us.

Everything strategic is built in France. For every euro invested in defence, €1.65 returns to our territories, because we did not choose to buy from the United States, and we are very glad of that. This is why we must continue this effort at European level, so that Europeans, long accustomed, after the Second World War, to being equipped by the United States, decide more firmly to equip themselves in our regions, because we have the know-how. We can control our defence tomorrow, at least better than today.

You have departmental military delegates at your disposal in every department to act as a link between your concerns and, this I know well, a defence world that is complex and uses language not always easy to understand. You have regimental commanders, base commanders, naval base commanders who are also there to assist you and facilitate this educational work towards our fellow citizens. This is the mission I assign to them, and you should not hesitate to call upon them.

I also need you because today, and potentially even more tomorrow if we are in a crisis situation, you are the rear base of the armed forces, and our soldiers will fight with free minds. The rear base is fundamental, it is the ability for men and women who often move house to be able to find a place in a school, a nursery. It is the ability to find housing.

Statistically, an officer moves every two to three years. A non-commissioned officer every ten years; the issue is less intense. But today, among the concerns expressed to me by our armed forces, family comes first, because it is difficult to find work and because assignment dates are often late, making it difficult to find a place in school. These, for me, are essential criteria for retaining talent.

I need you to help me keep talent in the French armed forces: when brilliant people can no longer take care of their families, they look elsewhere today. You are also, and I am thinking particularly of our army, key actors in enabling proper training for our forces.

You are, I imagine, approached in some cases when our forces cross your regions, your municipalities during major exercises. We will continue this; we need it. To work against terrorist groups, this can be done in fairly confined environments. To imagine manoeuvres on the scale of certain adversaries we envision, we need space. So please try to maintain a positive attitude towards these activities, even if I am aware they may cause inconvenience, disturbances.

Some will call them nuisances. But we have a network that allows us to plan as far ahead as possible to minimise the impact on your fellow citizens.

Lastly, you are guardians of memory. Here too, we all have a connection to a village, a municipality, to its history. And that history is the memory of elders passed down from generation to generation. It is also the war memorials and the moments of commemoration during which we remember why these people fought, why they gave their lives. There would be no sense today in abandoning what past generations did for us. So I think the role of memory today is fundamental, and I know how much effort you make to preserve it in your municipalities. For me, it is part of what builds the deep fibre of French resistance.

I would like to tell you that we are here for you, we are here for all French people, to ensure their defence. I have no doubt about the solidity of the French armed forces. I know we will be ready, and I know that our competitors, those who place severed pig heads before mosques, those who invent stories about us, are listening and know it. But we must show it.

We must show that we have the will to protect ourselves. These are choices being made now in the budget. It is educational work towards the French people, who are making great efforts. I recognise this at a time when there are great expectations in key areas of our lives: health, education, our social model. But this effort seems indispensable to me in view of the challenges ahead.

I would like to end by thanking you, because I experienced this when living in a very beautiful region and holding responsibilities in Berry, where I was able to form bonds that remain very dear to me.

I know how committed you are, I know how complex your activities are and how much courage they require. I can assure you that you have armed forces that are today very committed, very aware of the nation’s efforts, but very aware of the challenges and preparing for them. And I am certain that we are in a moment when we must explain to our fellow citizens the defence challenges that lie ahead. This is what justifies the defence effort they are making, and what justifies our entire history in protecting our freedom.

Thank you.

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