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Politico (27 November 2025)

Laura Kayali and Clea Caulcutt

After a hiatus of nearly 30 years, France is set to announce the reintroduction of military service on Thursday in a further sign that Russian President Vladimir Putin is remapping Europe’s security landscape.

Nuclear-armed France is the EU’s only military heavyweight with global reach, and a return to national service is a major political step. President Emmanuel Macron is expected to announce the measure — most likely a voluntary 10-month stint for both men and women — at Varces army base in the French Alps on Thursday.

While this is a mini revolution in France, the voluntary program represents a far lighter-touch approach to military expansion than in many Nordic and Baltic countries, where service is compulsory. Latvia and Croatia are the two most recent EU countries to reintroduce an obligatory term in the ranks.

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