Disarmament Diplomacy

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Presentation of Le Terrible in Cherbourg

Nicolas Sarkozy, President of the French Republic, March 21, 2008 (excerpts)

... Our nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines are an essential part of our nuclear deterrent capability. We owe it to our country's workers, technicians, engineers, men and women in uniform, and scientists - military and civilian... maintaining, at the highest level, the capabilities required for deterrence is an objective that is fundamental to our security....

But peace can never be taken for granted. Mass terrorism has shown us this. Today we are facing the assertiveness of new powers, new ambitions, new threats and thus new rivalries. Add to that the risks stemming from the competition for access to raw materials and energy, the diversion of technologies for aggressive purposes, and climate change. In this interdependent world, our interests have no borders, even if they have a geographical location....

The world has changed since the 1994 White Paper ... It is different, more unstable, more changing, more complex.... I do not want... for France to prepare for the previous war, as it has done all too often in the past, or to find itself unarmed in the face of a strategic surprise.... I have chosen to build the future with a few simple guideposts: our strategy, our ambitions, our alliances, the European objective. And a principle that is simple as well: I absolutely reject the idea of lowering our guard. The defense budget is the State's second-largest budget. It will remain so. It will not be reduced.

I will not rely on 15-year-old assessments to guide the country's military effort. I have requested a [new "White Paper on Defense and National Security"] for the beginning of the 21st century that is to propose a global concept of defense and national security for our country and its interests for the 15 years to come....

My first duty as Head of State and Head of the Armed Forces is to ensure that France, its territory, its people and its republican institutions are secure in all circumstances. And that in all circumstances, our national independence and decision-making autonomy are preserved... Nuclear deterrence is the ultimate guarantee of that...

In the face of proliferation, the international community must remain united and resolute. Because we want peace, we must show no weakness to those who violate international norms. But all those who respect them are entitled to fair access to nuclear energy for peaceful purposes... That is why we are so attached to our nuclear deterrent. It is strictly defensive. The use of nuclear weapons would clearly be conceivable only in extreme circumstances of legitimate defense, a right enshrined in the UN Charter.

Our nuclear deterrence protects us from any aggression against our vital interests emanating from a state-wherever it may come from and whatever form it may take. Our vital interests, of course, include the elements that constitute our identity and our existence as a nation-state, as well as the free exercise of our sovereignty...

All those who would threaten our vital interests would expose themselves to severe retaliation by France resulting in damages unacceptable to them, out of proportion with their objectives. Their centers of political, economic and military power would be targeted on a priority basis... It cannot be ruled out that an adversary might miscalculate the delimitation of our vital interests or our determination to safeguard them. In the framework of nuclear deterrence, it would be possible, in that event, to send a nuclear warning that would underscore our resolve. That would be aimed at reestablishing deterrence...

In order for deterrence to be credible, the Head of State must have a wide range of options to face threats. Our nuclear forces have been, and will continue to be, adapted in consequence. The M51 intercontinental missile, which Le Terrible will carry as soon as it is commissioned in 2010, and the ASMPA missile, which Rafale will carry starting this year, fit with our risk assessment during the period covered by the White Paper... I am also strongly convinced that it is essential to maintain two nuclear components, one sea-based and the other air-based...

Guaranteeing national security is expensive. Each year, their nuclear deterrent costs the French half the budget for justice or transportation. This cost must of course be controlled as much as possible, in the financial context I just mentioned. But I am determined to assume it. It is neither a matter of prestige nor a question of rank, it is quite simply the nation's life insurance policy....

Together with the United Kingdom, we have taken a major decision: It is our assessment that there can be no situation in which the vital interests of either of our two nations could be threatened without the vital interests of the other also being threatened....

As for the Atlantic Alliance, its security is also based on nuclear deterrence. British and French nuclear forces contribute to it... I say to our allies: France is and will remain true to its commitments under Article V of the North Atlantic Treaty.... By their very existence, French nuclear forces are a key element in Europe's security. Any aggressor who might consider challenging it must be mindful of this... Let us, together, draw every logical consequence of this situation. I propose to engage those European partners who would so wish in an open dialogue on the role of deterrence and its contribution to our common security....

Rather than making speeches and promises that are not translated into deeds, France acts. We respect our international commitments, and notably the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. France has an exemplary record, unique in the world, with respect to nuclear disarmament. France was the first State, with the United Kingdom, to sign and ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; the first State to decide to shut down and dismantle its facilities for the production of fissile materials for explosive purposes; the only State to have transparently dismantled its nuclear testing facility in the Pacific; the only State to have dismantled its ground-launched nuclear missiles; the only State to have voluntarily reduced the number of its nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines by a third...

France has never engaged in the arms race. France never manufactured all the types of weapons that it was technologically capable of designing. France applies a principle of strict sufficiency: It maintains its arsenal at the lowest possible level compatible with the strategic context. I am dedicated to this principle. As soon as I assumed my duties, I asked for this strict sufficiency to be reassessed.... This has led me to decide on a new measure of disarmament. With respect to the airborne component, the number of nuclear weapons, missiles and aircraft will be reduced by one-third.

I have also decided that France could and should be more transparent with respect to its nuclear arsenal than anyone ever has been.... After this reduction, I can tell you that our arsenal will include fewer than 300 nuclear warheads. That is half of the maximum number of warheads we had during the Cold War... Furthermore, I can confirm that none of our weapons are targeted against anyone.... Finally, I have decided to invite international experts to observe the dismantlement of our Pierrelatte and Marcoule military fissile material production facilities....

But let us not be naïve; the very basis of collective security and disarmament is reciprocity. Today, eight nations in the world have declared they have conducted nuclear tests. I am proposing to the international community an action plan to which I call on the nuclear powers to resolutely commit by the 2010 NPT Conference.

Thus I invite all countries to ratify the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, beginning with China and the United States, who signed it in 1996... I urge the nuclear powers to dismantle all their nuclear testing sites in a manner that is transparent and open to the international community;

I call for the immediate launching of negotiations on a treaty to ban the production of fissile materials for nuclear weapons purposes, and to establish without delay a moratorium on the production of such materials; I invite the five nuclear weapon States recognized by the NPT to agree on transparency measures... I propose opening negotiations on a treaty banning short- and intermediate-range surface-to-surface missiles... I ask all nations to accede to and implement the Hague Code of Conduct Against Ballistic Missile Proliferation, as France has done...

Full text in English available at www.ambafrance-uk.org/President-Sarkozy-s-speech-at,10430.html

See also President Sarkozy's speech to the British Parliament, March 26, 2008, at www.acronym.org.uk/docs/0803/doc10.htm

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