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A 10-month service for young people who volunteer and are "motivated".
From the Alps, President Emmanuel Macron unveiled on Thursday details of a plan for a new voluntary military service aimed at meeting the needs of the armed forces, at a time when the government and the army are warning of Russian threats and the growing risk of conflict, even at the risk of igniting political debate.
A national service "starting next summer"
As expected, Emmanuel Macron announced the introduction of a “new national service”, which will be implemented “gradually, starting next summer”. It “will involve only volunteers and the main group will be made up of young people aged 18 to 19”, the president explained during a visit to the 27th Mountain Infantry Brigade (BIM) in Varces, Isère. Other potential recruits, up to the age of 25, will also be able to apply and will be selected based on their specialization (engineers, nurses, translators, etc.).
Young volunteers will have to express their desire to perform this service during the day of defense and citizenship (renamed "mobilization day" for this occasion), then "will be selected by the armed forces who will choose among them the most motivated and those who best meet their needs."
"In the event of a major crisis, Parliament could authorize the call, beyond volunteers, of those whose skills are identified during this mobilization day. And then national service would become mandatory," added Emmanuel Macron.
A uniform, military status and salary
The new volunteers will serve "under military status, they will be provided with uniform, salary and equipment," the president specified.
National service will begin in 2026 and young people "will also be able to express their desire in 2027 to perform their national service within the national gendarmerie, the Paris fire brigade and the Marseille naval fire brigade battalion, which are also under military status".
"Our young people in national service will serve for ten months, which corresponds to a year of leave and allows them to adapt perfectly to the path of our youth," Emmanuel Macron further argued.
This training will begin with a month of learning the "basics of military life." The volunteers "will acquire the spirit of discipline, will be trained in the use of weapons, in marching, in the fields and in all the rituals that nourish the brotherhood of our armed forces and contribute to the greatness of the nation," the head of state further explained.
After this first month of initial training, young people in national service "will be assigned for nine months to a military unit."
The Élysée Palace has specified that the new volunteers will be paid 800 euros per month. They will also be provided with accommodation, food and equipment. The website sengager.fr also indicates that the new volunteers will benefit from a 75% discount on their train travel with SNCF (the French national railway company). Registration will be possible starting from January 12.
Three thousand young people will be selected in the summer of 2026 to perform national military service during the summer of 2026. "The numbers will gradually increase to reach 10,000 young people involved in 2030," added Emmanuel Macron, specifying that he aims to reach "50,000 young people" recruited in 2035. "This will be adapted according to the evolution of the threat," the president also declared.
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