The only nuclear power in the EU! Emmanuel Macron wants a major role against threats from the Kremlin

The French president Emmanuel Macron has said he is ready to discuss the use of French nuclear warheads as part of a "reliable European defence" against the threats from Russia, reports the European edition of Politico.

"I support starting this debate, which should include missile defense, firing long-range weapons, nuclear weapons for those who have them or who have American nuclear weapons on their territory," Macron said in an interview with regional media from the Ebra press group.

"France will keep its specificity, but is ready to contribute more to the protection of European soil,", he adds.

France, which has around 300 nuclear warheads, is the only nuclear power in the European Union.

In recent weeks, the French president has taken an increasingly hard line against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and, not for the first time, has suggested using French nuclear weapons to defend the EU.

Macron first hinted at this possible move in 2020 when he called for a "strategic dialogue" on "the role of French nuclear deterrence in Europe's collective security," in an attempt to open discussions on this issue with Germany, which hosts American nuclear weapons on its soil. France then repeated this proposal in 2022

So far, Berlin has not accepted the proposal of the French president.

But in January, Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and member of the Bavarian CSU, which is currently part of the German opposition, told Politico that Europe should "accept Macron" with a view to building the "European dimension of nuclear defense as a long-term goal".

Macron's comments drew criticism from French opposition parties.

"When you are a head of state, you must first learn to be silent about what is at the heart of our security model," Francois-Xavier Bellamy, the leading candidate of the right-wing Les Républicains party for the upcoming European elections, said on French television.

The group of the left "Unyielding France" in the National Assembly said in a written statement that the comments were a "serious mistake" that had dealt a "new blow to confidence in France's nuclear deterrent".