In the event of a Russian attack Paris Chief of Staff: "Must be prepared to lose children"
France's Chief of Staff Fabien Mandon has caused quite a stir with a statement. For him, France must be prepared to lose its children in the war to ward off the threat of a Russian attack.
20.11.2025, 20:28
SDA
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- Statements by France's Chief of Staff Fabien Mandon are causing a stir.
- To ward off an imminent Russian attack, France must be prepared to lose its children in the war.
- A number of politicians are reacting indignantly to the army chief's statements.
France's Chief of General Staff Fabien Mandon has caused a stir with statements according to which the country must be prepared to lose its children in war in order to defend itself against an imminent Russian attack. "If our country gives in because it is not prepared to accept the loss of its children, (...) there is unfortunately no reason to believe that this will mean the end of the war on our continent," said the army chief at the Congress of Mayors of France in Paris.
"Unfortunately, as I know from the information available to me, Russia is currently preparing for a confrontation with our countries in 2030. It is organizing itself for this, it is preparing for this and is convinced that its existential enemy is NATO, that it is our countries," said Mandon. Faced with this situation, France must be prepared for human losses and economic consequences, because priority is given to the arms industry, for example. "If we are not prepared to do this, then we are in danger."
Politicians warn against warmongering
A number of politicians reacted indignantly to the army chief's statements. Left-wing party leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon said it was not the job of the head of the army to call for preparations for a war that no one had decided on. The vice-chairman of the right-wing nationalist Rassemblement National, Sébastien Chenu, said that the Chief of Staff was not authorized to panic the population with such alarmist statements. "Yes to national defense, but no to intolerable warmongering speeches," wrote Communist leader Fabien Roussel on X.
France is also considering the possibility of a military conflict in a new guide to greater security in the event of a crisis, which was published on Thursday. In addition to natural disasters, industrial emergencies and cyber and terrorist attacks, the brochure also considers the possibility of "a major deployment of our armed forces in defense operations outside the national territory". In this case, France could be threatened by hybrid destabilization campaigns, for which the population must be prepared.