The French Army is planning to test its ability to fight a “high-intensity conflict” with Russia during drills in Romania set to take place next year, The Defense Post reported on Wednesday.
French troops will participate in the large-scale drills, which are intended to practice a rapid deployment to NATO’s “eastern flank.” The goal is for a French brigade to reach Bucharest in 10 days.
Gen. Bertrand Toujouse, the head of the French Army’s land command for Europe, made clear the drills were about preparing for war with Russia, which he called the “designated enemy.”
“We used to play war. Now there’s a designated enemy, and we train with people with whom we’d actually go to war,” Toujouse said.
France has a goal to be ready to deploy a battle-ready division of soldiers in 30 days. France and other NATO countries are openly preparing for a future war with Russia despite the risk of the conflict quickly turning nuclear.
Andrius Kubilius, a former Lithuanian prime minister and the EU’s first defense commissioner, recently said Europe must be ready to fight Russia in six to eight years.
Earlier in the year, French President Emmanuel Macron repeatedly called for NATO troops to be deployed to Ukraine and said he was “finalizing” a plan to send French soldiers to the country to train Ukrainian troops. Macron appeared to back down on the plan following repeated warnings from Russia that any French troops would be considered legitimate targets.
On Wednesday, Macron visited a group of Ukrainian troops training in France for a photo op ahead of a visit from Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky, who will arrive in France on Thursday.
