(Adnkronos) – The President of the French Republic announced today that “a new national service will be gradually established from next summer”, “purely military” and “voluntary”. “We cannot return to the time of conscription, but we need mobilization,” said Emmanuel Macron, speaking in Varces-Allières-et-Risset in Isère and emphasizing that “young people aspire to freedom and thirst for commitment: there is a generation ready to defend the Homeland.”
The military service will be aimed at “young adults” who have volunteered for the Defense and Citizenship Day. “The core (of military service) will be young people aged 18 to 19,” said Emmanuel Macron. However, “in the event of a serious crisis,” Parliament may “authorize the call, in addition to volunteers only, of those whose skills will have been identified during this mobilization day.” An “exceptional case,” clarifies the President of the Republic.
The young people of the national service will serve only on “national territory,” he further stated. “National service is national territory because it is a mobilization to defend ourselves,” he added. They will serve for a period of 10 months with an “initial training of one month.” The subsequent nine months will be spent in a military unit. National service volunteers will receive a minimum of 800 euros per month. They will be housed, fed, and equipped, adds the Élysée.
