France introduces 10-month voluntary military service

France introduces 10-month voluntary military service

French President Emmanuel Macron has announced the introduction of 10 months of voluntary military service for young people aged 18-19 in the country. The initiative comes amid growing Russian threats to Europe.
The new service will be carried out in France and its overseas territories, with the aim of recruiting 10,000 young people by 2030. At the same time, defense spending is set to double to 64 billion euros per year by 2027.

The French armed forces currently consist of 200,000 active and 47,000 reservists, and these figures are expected to reach 210,000 and 100,000 respectively by 2030.