PRESIDENT MACRON PROPOSED NEW MILITARY FINANCIAL BILL BY SEPTEMBER

USPA NEWS - Each year, on the eve of July 14, date of National Day (Or Bastille Day), the President of the Republic who is also the Commander in Chief, delivers Remarks, in front of the military forces, ie, the principal officers of the State Major, as well as families of soldiers wounded or killed in action.
This year, President Macron addressed his speech with a very particular tone since it was the first intervention as re-elected, as Head of Etta of the French Republic, and in the context of war in Ukraine. Indeed, as the President recalled. of the "end of February...the French military forces, On the other hand, this year 2022 also marks a turning point in the presence of the Franquette military forces in the Sahel, which withdrew after the double coup in Mali. The President, after having delivered a long, dense and detailed speech, with the main announcement of the proposal for a military programming law at the start of the political school year, that is, submitted to Parliament by his very young Minister of the Army, Sebastien Lecornu as well Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in September 2022, with a view to increasing the budget of the French army.

FRENCH PRESIDENT MACRON DELIVERD REMARKS AT MIISTRY OF ARMY HOTEL DE BRIENNE ON THE OCCASION OFNATIOANL DAY, 14th OF JULY IN FRANCE Each year, on the eve of July 14, date of National Day (Or Bastille Day), the President of the Republic who is also the Commander in Chief, delivers Remarks, in front of the military forces, ie, the principal officers of the State Major, as well as families of soldiers wounded or killed in action. This year, tonight, 13th July 2022, President Macron addressed his lengthy speech with a very particular tone since it was the first intervention as re-elected, as Head of Etta of the French Republic, and in the context of war in Ukraine. Indeed, as the President recalled. of the "end of February...the French military forces, On the other hand, this year 2022 also marks a turning point in the presence of the Franquette military forces in the Sahel, which withdrew after the double coup in Mali. The President, after having delivered a long, dense and detailed speech, with the main announcement of the proposal for a military programming law at the start of the political school year, that is, submitted to Parliament by his very young Minister of the Army, Sebastien Lecornu as well Prime Minister Elisabeth Borne in September 2022, with a view to increasing the budget of the French army. This law should allow budgetary adjustments made essential by the first lessons learned from the Russian invasion in Ukraine which started on February 24, 2022, despite the deployed and continuous efforts of President Macron as a mediator between his Ukrainian Zelensky and Russian counterparts, Cheese fries. And very quickly, in an exemplary way recognized by our Allies, we adapted, at sea, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the air, by multiplying reassurance, logistical support or intelligence flights, particularly in the Baltic countries, and on land by projecting the "AIGLE" battalion and anti-aircraft defense elements in Romania as part of NATO's rapid reaction force, but also in Estonia where the "LYNX" detachment has been extended. Thus reminded the Head of State Macron about the military support effort to bring to Ukraine to defend itself against the Russian attack. During his speech, President Macron pronounced eighteen (18) times, the expression "Moral Force", which corresponds to "the individual and collective capacity to take the upper hand over events to make his will prevail and accomplish his mission. , is always an absolutely major condition for success" explained President Macron and referring to the Ukrainian people, who never gave up and who showed combativeness and resilience in the face of the warrior enemy, carried by their leader the President Zelensky. The President Macron often insisted in the end of his speech on the words "empathy" and benevolence "towards his porche" and the most "vulnerable" At the end of his speech, pronounced, in the gardens of the magnificent Hotel De Brienne, of Rue Saint Dominique (Residence of the Minister of the Army) under a scorching heat, and during a cool cocktail composed of cold beers, fresh gourmet wines, and mini delicate seafood canapes, served to military and civilian guests, President Macron spent almost three hours chatting with the families of soldiers wounded in the war, and even those who died in combat. President Macron also lent himself to the game of selfies, refused by the one thousand five hundred (including a hundred VIPs) invitees, gathered around him and the PM, Elisabeth Borne, dressed in Black & Pink. Injured officers, some of whom were disabled in wheelchairs, and who were going to parade the next day, discussed at length with the Head of State, offering him the book of Invictus, the Military Paralympic Games in which they had participated. Brigitte Macron, all dressed in black and hoisted on stilton high hills, also spoke with families of military wounded, including a young man who had two legs amputated. Around 10:30 p.m., the President was finally able to return to the interior of the ministerial residence, to dine there, after having been decorated with a floral necklace, offered by a host from New Caledonia, who offered him the performance of a HAKA military.

REMARKS OF THE FERNCH PRESIDENT MACRON AS IT WAS DELIVERED
We publish the full text of the Remarks delivered by French President macron, at Hôtel de Brienne, French Ministry of Army, on Wednesday, July 13, 2022
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the State Secretaries, Ladies and Gentlemen of Parliament, Grand General Chancellor of the Legion of Honor, General Chief of Defense Staff, General Delegate for Armaments, Madam Secretary General for administration, Distinguished Chiefs of Staff, Mr. Director of the National Gendarmerie, Mr. Military Governor of Paris, Ladies and gentlemen, General Officers, Ladies and gentlemen directors, officers, non-commissioned officers and petty officers, non-commissioned soldiers, sailors and airmen, civilian personnel of the armies,
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, As you know, every year for me, it is both a lot of happiness and emotion that I come to share with you this moment of cohesion and exchange. Above all, it allows me to show our wounded, their families and bereaved families our respect, our solidarity and our friendship.

It is also for me the opportunity to have a direct relationship with the women and men who, tomorrow, will parade in front of the French women and men on the Champs Elysées. It is, finally, an opportunity to speak to the officials of the Ministry of the Armed Forces to give them my vision, as well as the main orientations which must underpin your daily action." thus said by way of introduction to his speech, President Macron.

FRANCE'S MILITARY SUPPORT TO UKRAINE HAS BEEN ACKNOWLEDGED BY NATO President Macron recalled how the French Military intervention (Alpine Hunters) was fast and efficient and highly coordinated in Romania, with few French military forces from the end of February 2022, ie one week after the Russian attack in Ukraine , in support of the latter country, whose entire sovereignty was violated by the Russian neighbor. "During our meeting at the beginning of the year, I described the main lines of the evolution of the conflictuality during these last years, between competition, contestation and confrontation, in the material and immaterial fields, in military forms. or hybrids, with a phenomenon of acceleration and intensification. It is to be regretted, but the evolution of the strategic situation before our eyes validates in all respects the vision developed in Oberhoffen last January And war has unfortunately reappeared on our continent. And very quickly, in an exemplary way recognized by our Allies, we adapted, at sea, particularly in the Eastern Mediterranean, in the air, by multiplying reassurance, logistical support or intelligence flights, particularly in the Baltic countries, and on land by projecting the "AIGLE" battalion and anti-aircraft defense elements in Romania as part of NATO's rapid reaction force, but also in Estonia where the "LYNX" detachment has been extended. We will honor these efforts tomorrow at the parade. And you can be proud of your responsiveness and professionalism. » President Macron highlighted.

"At the same time, we are immediately drawing all the consequences of the war in Ukraine: Europe is the closest and most immediate framework and point of application for our strategic solidarity which must, at the same time, continue to benefit to our partners who, sometimes further away from this European neighbourhood, are still counting on us. Before mentioning a certain number of orientations which result from this for the months and years to come, I would first of all like to Dwell for a moment on an absolutely crucial dimension of our action, and tell you all the importance that we must give to the preparation of energies, characters, wills to face the challenges which are in front of us. well known to Thucydides, who tells us, after having meditated on the Peloponnesian Wars: "The strength of the city lies neither in its ramparts nor in its ships, but in the character of its citizens". he acknowledged.

MORAL STRENGTH IS THE INDIVIDUAL AND COLLECTIVE CAPACITY TO TAKE THE EDGE OVER EVENTS AND MAKE VALUE OF ONE'S WILL AND ACCOMPLISH THEIR MISSION" SAID PRES. MACRON President Macron pronounced eighteen (198) times the expression "Force Morale" for which he attached great importance in his address, to the soldiers and their families, who listened to him. "Current events do not deny this 2,500-year-old observation: moral strength, that is to say the individual and collective ability to gain the upper hand over events to make one's will prevail and accomplish one's mission, is always an absolutely major condition for success. And I say this at a time when each of us has been struck in recent months by this moral strength of the Ukrainian nation which has enabled it to hold on despite an initially unfavorable balance of power. However, there is an important reciprocity between the moral force of a nation and that of its armies, which mutually nourish each other: since Valmy and the "Nation in arms", our History has shown it to us. I am therefore particularly attentive to ensuring that our moral strength, your moral strength, you soldiers, is worked on, trained, fed. Because your moral force is an essential element of the cohesion of the Nation. This moral force is first of all in its individual dimension, the fruit of your training, of your military education. An education in responsibility, in trust: obedience as a school of command. An education that leads to knowing how to enact and knowing how to implement clear directives. An education that teaches you the cult of mission."

PRES. MACRON ENCOURAGES TO USE THE MOST OF  "MORAL STRENGTH  IS THE PRODUCT OF COLLECTIVE DYNAMICS" President Macron, then completes on the other virtues of Moral Force "But moral force is also the product of collective dynamics: the voluntary and shared submission to the rules that the group has given itself, in other words discipline, which should not be feared, quite the contrary, but which makes us stronger and grows. Standards and codes that seek to ensure justice and equity. common rituals. The sense of sharing, of community, team spirit... Let's be clear, moral strength will never be a given. It would even be a serious error to consider that it can be: it is a dynamic, a path. It is conditioned by action. It helps to maintain the fighting spirit to confidently face the challenges of the future. It feeds the pride of belonging and allows you to project yourself into the future, in short. This is why I encourage you to cultivate your moral strength, and that of your families, whom I assure of my attention and my solidarity. I encourage you to do this with a lot of confidence because I know that your leaders, and first and foremost the Minister and the Chief of Defense Staff, the Chiefs of Staff and the heads of the support services are there particularly attentive," he explains, as if to ensure that he absolutely applies moral force in his military mission but also a guidance in one’s on the way of life."

THERE IS NO SUSTAINABLE MORAL FORCE WITHOUT A STRONG CONNECTION WITH OUR HURT” SAID THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF MACRON “There is no lasting moral strength without a strong connection to our wounded, their families and bereaved families. Protector of the Invalides, heir to a tradition rooted since Louis XIV and which obliges me, I carry with vigilance the concern of "those who freely exposed their lives and shed their blood for the defense and support of our country". I warmly thank the families, and each and every one of you. The Nation owes you. I would like to warmly thank the staff's assistance cells for the wounded, and salute all the efforts made in recent years to ensure the care of the wounded, in their flesh or in their spirit, as well as the care of families. And here I want to say once again how much we owe the army health service. He too was so often touched in recent years, including these last months in his flesh. But we can, and I would say we must go further. We know there is still a long way to go. I have measured it several times, and recently again, when with my wife I was able to meet our national team of the Invictus Games. There are still unsuitable, badly coordinated or badly accompanied administrative processes that can generate or accentuate suffering. We cannot accept it. For someone injured as a result of his military commitment, there must be a presumption of good faith: we must lighten the burden of proof that weighs on the individual, we must even neutralize it. And I say it clearly, yes, we must know how to get out of the structural prevalence, unconscious but very present, of the defense of the financial interests of the State. "

WE MUST GUARANTEE THE INJURED AND THEIR FAMILIES IMMEDIATE, SUSTAINABLE AND ADAPTED AND CARING CARE " PROMISED PRESIDENT MACRON President Macron insisted on the human aspect of the treatment of war wounded, and promised faster, more efficient and above all benevolent care. "Our administrations must get out of this logic which has had all its legitimacy, which can still have it in many areas, but above all we need empathy, support and succeed in responding to what we owe to our wounded , whoever they are, and to all families. We must guarantee the injured and their families immediate, long-lasting, appropriate and benevolent care in the event of injury or death in service. I will therefore be attentive to the progress of the new projects launched in recent weeks, whether it concerns the simplification and improvement of administrative procedures, or the adequacy of measures for recognition, compensation and support for families. It is a condition of serenity, of confidence, therefore of moral strength for the accomplishment of your missions. This is a requirement, a major objective that I assign to us collectively for the months to come. Because you know it is my duty to constantly raise awareness of the military condition. As you know, it is my duty to constantly monitor the military condition, and I have done so again in recent days when receiving the High Committee which is responsible for its evaluation. Fully professionalized for twenty years, the military world, far from being monolithic, is marked by its sociological diversity and porosity with civil society. It is the object of centrifugal or centripetal forces and tendencies that are sometimes paradoxical but which lead it to regularly reaffirm its singularity while comparing itself to the bodies of the State, in particular to other bodies in uniform." President macron said.

Head of State Macron added, moderating his remarks by striking a balance between firmness and humanity when it comes to militarism "The exercise of an attentive command and the bodies and mechanisms for consultation make it possible to channel these movements and to steer changes as necessary as the considerable construction site of the new military remuneration policy. The variety of professions exercised by the various military corps, their nature sometimes strongly interfaced with other State administrations, with the economic or industrial fabric, constitute a richness. But the contours of the militarism of certain corps are sometimes questioned: I invite you to lead this reflection, if it must be, by approaching it first by the principles, before any consideration of management, or simply corporatist. It is up to me to ensure the fair treatment of soldiers vis-à-vis public officials, to give them the prominent place they deserve within the State. But I tell you, the imperative of equity cannot be confused with a conceptual and mechanical equality. This would inevitably tend towards a form of fungibility, of trivialization of your military status.

Your status is both an ethical shield and a lever for action that guarantees an appropriate system of rights and duties. And the constraints that he understands, such as the mobility that the High Committee has studied at length this year, must obviously be accompanied and compensated, but they proceed from fundamental principles, here the principle of availability, which itself conditions the principle of free disposal of the armed force. This is why conditioning mobility on volunteerism is, in principle, weakening militarism. The necessary responses to constraints or issues of attractiveness and loyalty must therefore, if I may say so, be addressed from above. It is in its entirety that the reflection on the relative positions of the military and civilian bodies must be considered, with a concern for coherence and modernity in a way. Let's stick to the principles, let's defend militarism, but let's look at society as it evolves, and let's support families and careers more, let's give more visibility, sometimes there too more empathy, humanity, but let's keep the principles with clarity and firmness."

OUR FELLOW CITIZENS HAVE BEEN RAISED IN A PEACEFUL DEMOCRACY,” SAID THE HEAD OF STATE MACRON “Our fellow citizens have for many, and it is fortunate, been brought up in a democracy of peace. But, and we have also seen this lately, the values ??of our Nation, of our Republic also sometimes bear the brunt either of a certain ambient relativism, which is taking hold more and more and I see it with concern, or of an assumed questioning that sets in with an increasingly uninhibited character. Of course, his last 20 years had the hallmarks of warfare, often at the tactical level. And terrorism had returned to our soil to strike us again. But the war returns, fully, cruelly on European soil and it reminds us of the tragedy of history. We thus rediscover that the moral force of our Nation must absolutely be cultivated, encouraged and worked on. And that is why I speak to you with such force about this moral force. You, you soldiers, have a special place and a major role to play in this regard, throughout the metropolitan territory as well as in our Overseas Territories. But two important aspects come naturally to my mind, which moreover mirror each other and which I want to underline here, the memorial action of the ministry and the assistance it can bring to the formation of the youth of our country. Ladies Secretaries of State, in this respect you have all my confidence in the Minister of the Armed Forces to carry high and far these essential issues for the Nation. Yes, the first is memory. Custodians of an invaluable, material and immaterial heritage, the armies are intended to preserve, enhance and transmit our national heritage," added President Macron, also addressing the overseas military forces.

“THERE IS NO SUSTAINABLE MORAL FORCE WITHOUT A STRONG CONNECTION WITH OUR WOUNDED” SAID COMMANDER IN CHIEF MACRON “Your organization is clearly, in my mind, a part of our collective weapon system, to borrow from your vocabulary, and your memory policy thus contributes to military doctrine. Of course, it is a question of recognizing, rewarding, if necessary repairing what needs to be repaired. In this regard, I salute the work done to develop and implement the law that I wanted for the Harkis, which is now producing its effects and I want to thank you for it. Of course, it is also a question of allowing researchers to document our History, by finding the best balance between the essential principles of free access to documents and the protection of national defense secrets, with, to quote only one translation immediate for our Polynesian compatriots. This is how an important work of declassification of documents relating to the history of nuclear tests has been undertaken. We did and thank you for it. Because we have put an end to decades, I must say, of misunderstandings, perhaps even of taboo. This work is essential to maintain this moral force of the nation by this duty of truth, of memory, this transmission by history. This is why it is also appropriate to present to our compatriots the symbolic high places of our History to contribute to the attractiveness of the territories, and to make people want to get involved if I may say so by registering in our Legend of the Centuries. The very one that our armies have written. In this respect, I am delighted with the sustained efforts to renovate, to transform the Musée de la Marine, which I will inaugurate in the fall of 2023, or to lead the ambitious transformation project of the Musée de l'Armée. But the place of history, the policy of archives, the museum policy of the armies must also contribute to the resilience of the country. We are celebrating this year, among other things, the 80th anniversary of Bir Hakeim and the Normandie Niémen, or even the 50th anniversary of the first patrol of Le Redoutable: the sense of commitment, the acceptance of sacrifice for the benefit of the common good not decree! They are nourished by the example of the elders, and the lessons learned from the past. Of this ability to remind us of those moments of heroism that were not obvious. When our predecessors,wrote them. This is why memory is a powerful lever for cohesion, a vector of counter-influence, in the face of the errant use of history which is multiplying everywhere... Look in Ukraine at how certain powers are rewriting the history of the 20th century to justify their actions. Look how often the same powers, to continue to implicitly evoke Russia, use, distort the history of the last centuries to attack France and present themselves as those they have never been and transfigure militias and predators into liberator of people. Yes, history matters and informs our action. And the second point, and it is related to the above, is what you can offer the youth of our country. As you know, on several occasions I have expressed my attachment to and my interest in the know-how of the soldiers who have been presented to me during my various trips." he stated.

IN 2022 THE COMMANDOS OF THE FRENCH NAVY CELEBRATE THEIR 80 YEARS President Macron recalled the 80th anniversary of the French Navy and with a strong message to the Navy commandos, "From the Ecole des Mousses to the 4th Foreign Regiment, passing through the instruction company of the SMA d'Hiva Hoa, I was able to observe your training systems, which are opportunities for the young people entrusted to you. The pedagogy of companionship, the sometimes rough, but permanent and, in reality, benevolent presence of executives who take into account the soldier, the sailor or the airman in all his humanity, the testimony of the elders, the stories told, the rituals shared , all of this constitutes a treasure that others have sometimes lost, or even squandered. And what a treasure! This year sees us celebrating the 4 centuries of history of the Marine Troops, the 80 years of the marine commandos, the 80 years of the weapon of the Transmissions, there too to name but a few. Let’s get this straight: it’s not about militarizing youth, let alone society, that wouldn’t make sense. But at a time when the Republic is going through dark movements, when the Nation needs to find the salt of its history, its deep meaning in order to be stronger and more united, the Republic needs you to do more. I know the know-how of our armies in terms of cohesion and youth, in mainland France and overseas. I know the richness of the army-youth plan, which brings together the initiatives and actions carried out everywhere and permanently by the ministry. I know the parachute military preparations and the other actions of the army, the navy military preparations, which are celebrating their fiftieth anniversary. I know the air youth squadrons on the air bases, and all the actions carried out for and with the youth. But I ask you to do more, by giving our reserves a new ambition, by doubling the volume of the operational reserves of the armies, and by investing more and better in the great Universal National Service project that I am leading. I know all the work done by the agency, I know all the contribution you make to it, but it is an essential focus for the coming months and years. The experiment is working: we must now move towards full deployment and complete our approach. Civic service - and therefore the civil part of this initiative is strong - we have greatly developed it, more than doubled, and it feeds the UNS commitment phase, the third stage, and is emblematic of this desire. But the UNS in its completeness must make it possible to initiate, to encourage, to universalize in a way the logic which is ours. Because it is the whole of French society that I want to mobilize, by strengthening our spirit of national cohesion in mainland France and overseas. Resilience and national cohesion must be consolidated. For this I will rely on you, soldiers, who cultivate team spirit to the highest degree, team spirit, and who carry solidarity as a primordial value, and the values ??of transmission and discipline. at the heart of the organization. I will ensure that the necessary resources are devoted to it without preempting the budgetary means that we must preserve for the accomplishment of your primary mission. But this is also why I wanted to attach the Secretary of State, in charge of youth and universal national service, to the Minister of the Armed Forces in addition to her previous attachment to the Minister of National Education. It is in this sense that I asked the three ministers, under the supervision of the Prime Minister, to make proposals to us from the summer." he explains.

PRESIDENT MACRON HAS ANNOUNCED AN INCREASE IN THE FRENCH ARMY BUDGET VIA A FUTURE PROGRAM LAW IN SEPT 2022 The moral force of a Nation is also its will to give itself the means to defend itself. It is an armaments industry recognized for its major role by our fellow citizens. It is a nuclear deterrent given credibility in its political and strategic vocation by the support of the Nation. Ladies and gentlemen, make no mistake: Thucydides does not deny the importance of ships and city walls, but he reminds us that they will yield without moral force. And this therefore requires us to make an essential effort to educate and engage young people. And this capacity everywhere and in any place to reinforce the moral force of the Nation. §§§ If you allow me this jump in time of two thousand years, from Thucydides to Erasmus, let us keep in mind this adage of 1508: "If you fight with a silver sword, you will always be victorious". This is why, in 2017, we decided to stop the erosion of our military capabilities. And since then, we have ensured - government, parliament, and I thank the competent committees, their presidents, for their commitment and constant vigilance, the whole of the Ministry of the Armed Forces, which I thank for its commitment - that each annuity of the military programming law is respected before the armies and Parliament. As I announced, this line will be maintained, while maintaining the main axes and the major choices already drawn, while continuing the effort undertaken. Because everything, today, unfortunately, has confirmed what was at the heart of the strategic analysis and the observations that we made in 2017 and 2018. And I say it here, with the credibility of recent years, because there was decades, decades, that the laws of military programming were not respected year after year. We had become accustomed to spending long moments thinking, then long hours planning, methodically not applying what had been programmed. We've done the opposite, so we're going to continue down that path. We must first continue our commitment against the terrorist threat everywhere, particularly in Africa."

A NEW MILITARY DIMENSION WILL BE PURSUED IN AFRICA AFTER OPERATION BARKHANE EXPLAINED PRES. MACRON "We will continue it after Barkhane, differently but resolutely, in a global vision, including a renewed military dimension, with our European and African allies, according to adapted partnerships, by further enhancing our know-how that we will share more widely in our military schools. with different modalities. I have asked the ministers and the Chief of Defense Staff to be able to rethink all of our arrangements on the African continent by the fall. It is a strategic necessity because we must have systems, if I can put it that way, that are less posed and less exposed, and succeed in building stronger intimacy with the African armies over the long term, rebuilding a capacity to train here and there, to rebuild an intimacy which is already strong - and there, I can thus salute the commitment, the professionalism of our intelligence and intelligence services - but to consolidate it and succeed in thinking of a continuum between our diplomatic offer, our renewed actions for the African partnership, our development actions, our military presence. It is a profound paradigm shift that we must make, and we will. In the meantime, I would like to congratulate you here on the smooth progress of the reorganization of our forces in the Sahel. The successes of Barkhane and Saber in recent months are indisputable. The French armies have continued in the Sahel to fight terrorism, and to have an undeniable efficiency, far superior to any other force, I must say it here with great pride and great clarity. You have made it possible to break the link between the central command of the terrorist franchises and the Sahelian groups. And if today there is not a territorial Caliphate in the Sahel, it is thanks first and foremost to our armies. And the withdrawal from Mali that I decided because the political and operational conditions for maintaining Barkhane in this country were no longer met, was a real challenge. I assume here in front of you this withdrawal. »

" I ASSUME THIS WITHDRAW OF THE FRENCH MILITARY TROOPS OF MALI " PRESIDENT MACRON SAID "It had become a necessity for the clarity of our action and for our security. Because, let's never forget, we intervened in 2013 in the Sahel at the request of the democratically elected Malian State, at the request of the regional organization that is ECOWAS, and within a clear framework. Two successive military coups, and I must say, sometimes the culpable weakness of other leaders not condemning quickly enough, led to a change in the framework of intervention that was ours. Our armies could no longer remain present on Malian soil alongside a political power that was no longer legitimate, whose priority was no longer the fight against terrorist groups and which even decided to build new accomplices, which with predatory and guilty militias, which sometimes with certain groups themselves. This is what I owed you, what I owed the bereaved families and our wounded. I want to say it here with force: the fight that we fought and that we still fight today on Malian soil and that we will continue to fight in the Sahel is fair, legitimate and useful. He is our pride. It is the fruit of your efforts. But what has been done in recent months has been carried out under remarkable political and operational conditions. And so, this withdrawal from Mali that I have decided on, is in addition to all that, a considerable logistical challenge, carrying strong security, reputational and strategic risks. And you are meeting it in perfect coordination with our African and European partners and with praiseworthy professionalism and mastery. I want to give them back to you here. We must complete it likewise before the end of the summer and we will. During all this time, you have not downgraded any of your operational commitments anywhere in the world. Our commitment to the Near and Middle East has remained constant. You held the permanent postures and you remained fully mobilized on the national territory in the service of the security of the French people. With Operation Sentinel, the fight against the pandemic, the various competitions to deal with local crises, the so important actions in our overseas territories, you have fully deserved the trust that the French place in you. But we also had to respond elsewhere, on short notice, when the war broke out in Ukraine. And there too, I say it here with great force, our armies have responded in an exemplary manner. Our demonstrated responsiveness in Romania is a key element of our credibility, marking the quality of our organization, our operational preparation, but also the effectiveness of our political-military decision-making processes. "

OUR CONSTITUTION AND FORCES ORGANIZATION ARE THE ENVIED ALL OVER THE WORLD ASSURED PRESIDENT MACRON “Our constitution, our organization are forces envied all over the world. I say it here, where I hear them so often criticized, even attacked. the first hours after the invasion, Rafales were engaged from our bases to defend the skies of Poland with the support of AWACS and MRTT tanker planes.In seven days, from February 28, the French component of the The "spearhead" battalion was deployed 595 soldiers from the 27th Alpine Hunters Battalion, the 126th Infantry Regiment and the 4th Hunters Regiment were deployed to the Constantza base in Romania, with armored vehicles and all the necessary means. I was at their side just a few days ago. 243 Belgian soldiers met them there to form a battalion declared operational three days later. Why the Belgians and why so quickly? Because we Over the past five years, we have been able to build an exceptional, operational and capacity-based partnership with Belgium, which has enabled us to do this. This is the demonstration. We also owe the exceptional agility of our armies to the personnel of the support services, both civilian and military. And I congratulate here the specialists of the police station, operational energies, routings, information systems and so many others. What I have just recalled here, almost no other army in Europe can do it with so much capability and so quickly. Very few armies in the world can do this. The war in Ukraine also reminds us of the importance of intelligence, not only in terms of assessing the military situation but also in understanding the mechanisms at work and discerning intentions. This war thus confirms the investments there too that we have made, the choices that have been ours in recent years, the desire to strengthen this function with great force. And this war also confirms the need to have a coherent and powerful military potential, the ability to last, the consequences in terms of stock. It also demonstrates the need for adaptability which calls and will increasingly call for a posture of permanent innovation excluding any break, any drowsiness on laurels however deserved they may be."

"You can see it on the run, I'm starting to draw some of the first conclusions, the first feedback from what we have just experienced in Ukraine: confirmation of some of our findings and our strategic intuitions, but also even more demanding observations linked to the return of high-intensity warfare in Europe, involving, moreover, an endowed power. Yes, this year, the war resurfacing at our gates, at our borders, has changed everything. And it will involve us in to change even more. And this is what I would like to come back to before ending my remarks. I spoke a few days ago of the war economy. I will have the opportunity to say it tomorrow to our compatriots, To meet this need that the Nation will have to continue to equip itself, sometimes to help some of our friends or allies to equip themselves, we must structure a French and European economy in which the 12 models , rhythms, standards s must be considered according to, if I may say so, a different theory. In this regard, I would like to highlight the considerable European advances in recent years and especially in recent months.

These advances, the conflict in Eastern Europe condemns us to amplify them and we are doing so. But we still have a long way to go and our entire defense industrial and technological base, which is called upon to be transformed and recomposed in a logic of sovereignty, including European ones, in order to successfully meet the needs of our forces and find the best compromises will still have to speed up. I have confidence in our armament engineers, in our civilian engineers and technicians, in our manufacturers and in all their employees, to carry out these transformations which are investments for the future. We have done a lot in recent years to reconstitute our capacities and rebuild our autonomy, launch major European programs, move in the direction of more innovation. But we are going to have to invest sometimes faster, stronger and manufacturers will have to meet these needs.

It will be necessary to change the paradigm, sometimes reverse certain logics and consider that projects must now be conducted according to another logic. I would like to thank here the constant, constant mobilization of our General Delegate for Armaments and all his teams who have been able to improve the MCO, the orders, and redefine new projects in a remarkable way over the past few years. But this is a new step that we will have to take together," added President Macron.

He completes with "The great sophistication and customization of our systems which are our strength, especially for export, must obviously be preserved. But we must also see that they are sometimes the cause of considerable development and production delays and that we have new imperatives that we must face up to. To replenish certain stocks faster and stronger, to know how to produce more materials that are adapted to this return of high-intensity warfare on our soil, to re-examine certain choices of innovation in order to restore balance, in some way, to objectives that can compete: the most extreme innovation and deadlines, the ability to mass-produce them as quickly as possible. This is why we must maintain the technological and tactical advantage at all times, while securing the subcontracting chains and the supply of raw materials and maintaining the necessary skills. It is therefore a real strategic, capability and innovation challenge, but also to rethink the entire chain and therefore to know how to question part of the organization of our defense industrial and technological base.And you can clearly see that we have to do it among French people, but also at European level, because this ability to act faster and to guarantee our strategic autonomy and our independence also presupposes certain technological aspects, which can sometimes coming under a dual system, means thinking differently as Europeans. And which on rare metals, rare gases, certain elements that we had forgotten, suppose knowing how to regain market share and independence. We will therefore have to know how to switch to the logic of emergency programs, resilience programs and the reinforced construction of an independence strategy. Yes, we must integrate the innovation of use resulting from the strengths. We need to go faster, simplify our processes, sometimes also our repositories. " In conclusion, President Macron ends with an optimistic and encouraging note facing the horizon on budgets and conflictuality "This is why I asked the Minister of the Armed Forces to lead this project with the industrialists, with the support of the Minister of the Economy, Finance and Industrial and Digital Sovereignty, to develop proposals that will be submitted to the Prime Minister and myself at the beginning of the fall. It is together that we will take up the challenge of technological competition, innovation and flexibility. And we will do it in Europeans. This is also why I fought so hard and will continue to fight so that European taxonomies can continue to invest in our defense innovations, our defense industries. Because there are sometimes strange minds who, when we see war returning to Europe, contrive to complicate investment in defense industries in Europe. So, I fully assume the fact that taxonomies should allow us to consolidate our large industrial groups, ETIs, SMEs, start-ups, and strengthen investments in these sectors by giving them visibility. But, you have understood, it will be a demanding ambition that will be carried. In the light of this new context and even though the conflicts are intensifying, I have barely mentioned the Indo-Pacific here, but it remains an absolutely key space for France, for our overseas territories - Madam Secretary of State, in particular our beloved New Caledonia. At the same time as the conflictuality is so strong in new spaces: cybernetic, space, maritime, we can clearly see that today we need to reassess our ambition. Not to do less, I assure you, but to sometimes redirect our forecasts, learn all the lessons from this new context and be able to plan the next few years. This is why I asked to reassess the military programming law, to properly adapt the responses that will have to be considered. I asked the ministers, the Chief of Defense Staff and the Delegate General for Armaments to reconsider the relevance of our organizations, our structures, sometimes our ways of thinking."

THE NEXT LAW ON THE PROGRAMMING OF FINANCES FOR THE ARMY WILL BE DISCUSSED IN PARLIAMENT IN SEPTEMBER 2023 And then President Macron, ends his speech by calling on his Minister of the Armed Forces, Sebastien Lecornu, whose task falls to him to prepare this bill this summer, and a roadmap to prepare: "First, I say to question our structures, our procedures, to strengthen subsidiarity, an essential condition for responding appropriately to the challenges we have to meet - and I know how attached the Senate is to this - to reconsider the relevance of our operational chain of command in order sometimes to be able to decide more quickly, to coordinate us more effectively, also to adapt to the evolution of the fields of conflict and to make very concrete proposals to me in this area. The main lines that have guided our action in recent years retain their relevance, but our ambition operational for 2030 must be reviewed to better ensure our ability to face the prospect of the possible return of a high-intensity confrontation . Our effort cannot therefore weaken. He must be prosecuted. We will need new planning, investments adjusted over time and investments that will be part of a broad vision that articulates our sovereignty, our independence of decision, our vision of the world, with the commitments and the responses developed with our allies within the framework of the European Union's Strategic Compass, NATO's Strategic Concept and the strategic partnerships that structure our action. I hope that this work which, as you have understood, will be built by our ministers, since I think that this strategic reflection, this feedback must be done in the privacy of the teams. There is no need at this stage and also taking into account the elements of continuity, to think of theoretical exercises or that we would carry out outside, if I may say so, of the Government and our armies. I hope that this work, which should be completed by the end of this year, can then give rise to a programming law, discussed in Parliament at the beginning of 2023, and that it traces a trajectory until 2030. This is consistent with the depth of field we need to carry out certain investments and redirect certain actions. It will serve as a frame of reference for budget work as well as short and medium term capacity projects. In this regard, we will keep some elements, and I will scan here very quickly to conclude a few points of this work. First, we need to keep an approach "at eye level" as the expression goes - yes, small individual equipment, support elements, infrastructure. I will ensure that in this work, we can continue everything that has been undertaken, continue what has been done in terms of housing, the family plan. And here I salute the work of your predecessor, Minister of the Armed Forces."

"I also know the attention that we will have to have on the workforce and their deployment in an appropriate manner; without reinforcements, the on-call duty shifts, the repetition of operational deployments always weigh as much on you and your families. We therefore need to be consistent. And so on this, we will have, at human level, to continue to deploy things, to ensure the feminization of our armies which remains an essential objective, to the fight against all forms of discrimination, that they are sexist, sexual, religious or racial - an absolute imperative - and to properly deploy the reform of the remuneration of the military that I briefly mentioned earlier, the third part of which is in preparation. this respect be used to fully implement the pedagogy, secure all the devices and continue this important project.In this context of adapting our capabilities to the needs of defense and security, our deterrence which is nuclear and strictly defensive will also remain the ultimate assurance of our sovereignty and our strategic autonomy.

Our autonomous capacity to assess the situation will be strengthened by taking even more and better account of new forms and new areas of conflict. Our prepositioned systems on the ground and in the air, as well as our naval forces, on all the seas, from the African continent to the Indo-Pacific, will continue to contribute to the prevention of crises and the deployment of our strategies. And we will do it, there too it is an element that I pose in this reflection, with an increased military investment in our overseas territories. The permanent postures will be consolidated, and we will maintain a capacity for intervention in all environments with the brand that is ours, that of a power of balance with this training capacity. And there too, I hope that the exercise that will be carried out should allow us to integrate what has been a real revolution in recent months, and that we have carried out. Imagine through the evolution of Barkhane and the Task Force Takuba on the one hand, then what we are inventing today in the Sahel, around the kneecap, if I may say so, that is Niger, and what we are doing and what we have deployed in recent weeks in Romania: on two occasions, France has been the framework nation for an operation bringing together allies and Europeans for the Sahel, and a NATO rapid reaction force and its deployment with regard to Romania, which was a first. And so, we need to consolidate this role and know how to build new ways of doing things here too. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the ambition that I draw here for us. You have understood that the next few months will be active for all of our armies, for all those who contribute to the effort and in particular our industrialists. And I'm counting on you. Yes, it's all an effort that the Nation must pursue, but it's not a sacrifice, it's an investment it makes for itself," President Macron added.

OUR FORCES ON AFRICA AND INDO PACFIC WILL CONTRIBUTE TO PREVENT THE CRISES TO COME TO EXPLAINED PRES. MACRON "I also know the attention that we will have to have on the workforce and their deployment in an appropriate manner; without reinforcements, the on-call duty shifts, the repetition of operational deployments always weigh as much on you and your families. We therefore need to be consistent. And so on this, we will have, at human level, to continue to deploy things, to ensure the feminization of our armies which remains an essential objective, to the fight against all forms of discrimination, that they are sexist, sexual, religious or racial - an absolute imperative - and to properly deploy the reform of the remuneration of the military that I briefly mentioned earlier, the third part of which is in preparation. this respect be used to fully implement the pedagogy, secure all the devices and continue this important project.In this context of adapting our capabilities to the needs of defense and security, our deterrence which is nuclear and strictly defensive will also remain the ultimate assurance of our sovereignty and our strategic autonomy. Our autonomous capacity to assess the situation will be strengthened by taking even more and better account of new forms and new areas of conflict. Our prepositioned systems on the ground and in the air, as well as our naval forces, on all the seas, from the African continent to the Indo-Pacific, will continue to contribute to the prevention of crises and the deployment of our strategies. And we will do it, there too it is an element that I pose in this reflection, with an increased military investment in our overseas territories. The permanent postures will be consolidated, and we will maintain a capacity for intervention in all environments with the brand that is ours, that of a power of balance with this training capacity. And there too, I hope that the exercise that will be carried out should allow us to integrate what has been a real revolution in recent months, and that we have carried out. Imagine through the evolution of Barkhane and the Task Force Takuba on the one hand, then what we are inventing today in the Sahel, around the kneecap, if I may say so, that is Niger, and what we are doing and what we have deployed in recent weeks in Romania: on two occasions, France has been the framework nation for an operation bringing together allies and Europeans for the Sahel, and a NATO rapid reaction force and its deployment with regard to Romania, which was a first. And so, we need to consolidate this role and know how to build new ways of doing things here too. This, ladies and gentlemen, is the ambition that I draw here for us. You have understood that the next few months will be active for all of our armies, for all those who contribute to the effort and in particular our industrialists. And I'm counting on you. Yes, it's all an effort that the Nation must pursue, but it's not a sacrifice, it's an investment it makes for itself," President Macron added.

IF WE NEED TO GO FURTHER STRONGER FOR THE SAFETY OF OUR CITIZENS WE WILL DO IT AS PROMISED PRES. MACRON
"The level of this effort obliges us all, but here I want to remind us of this sentence of General De Gaulle, in his second speech in Bayeux in 1952 where he said "Defence! This is the primary raison d'être of State. It cannot fail without destroying itself. " If we have to go further, stronger for the security of our fellow citizens, for the preservation of our values, we will do it, because we are capable of it. We have been able to make choices, we will be able to make others. And I know above all that there are the women and men that you are and who are our strength today and who will be our strength tomorrow. This strength, We draw it from the example of our elders, from this French heroism. This strength, we will continue to carry it and make it live. And it is the one that feeds all my confidence in you, in our armies, in your leaders , and therefore, in doing so, all confidence in our Nation. Long live the Republic and long live France!" thus concluded his lengthy speech, President Macron.