France will introduce a voluntary military service program to boost its defense capabilities, becoming the latest European Union country to unveil new recruitment methods in the face of Russian aggression. France needs more young citizens joining the military so that it is "ready and respected," President Emmanuel Macron said at an event on Thursday.
The 10-month program will start next summer, with an initial group of 3,000 volunteers. The program is expected to reach 50,000 people by 2035. Volunteers will only serve in France.
Prompted by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, EU countries have ramped up defense spending. A number of EU states have also introduced new military service programs and incentives, including Germany, which pledged to build Europe's strongest conventional army.
The French army must be ready for a shock from Russia in three or four years, the country's chief of the defense staff, General Fabien Mandon, said last month. Mandon also fueled controversy recently when he suggested France must be "prepared" to "lose its children" and suffer economic pain to prevent future Russian aggression.
France, where military conscription ended in 2001, has a standing military of about 205,000 servicemen. The government announced plans to more than double the number of reservists to 105,000 over the next decade.
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