Disarmament Diplomacy
Issue No. 87, Spring 2008
In the News
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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