A call to our Fellow citizens
The Ukrainian nation is in danger! We must urgently provide the arms and munitions it needs to reclaim its entire territory. Only its victory, by driving Russia out of Ukraine, will ensure peace in accordance with international law. A ceasefire enshrining Russia's control over the Donbass, Crimea and their populations in exchange for illusory guarantees of security is a delusion. Once Russia has replenished its arsenals, it will be in a position to resume its offensive against the European democracies. The risks range from hybrid warfare, which Russia is already waging (cyber attacks, disinformation, intrusion into electoral processes), to high-intensity conflict.
The European strategy was primarily based on economic sanctions, which were supposed to bring Putin to his senses. They have limited Russia's ability to produce weapons, but have not had all the desired effects: they need to be stepped up. As for the military aid provided to Ukraine by its allies, it has been too hesitant and modest to exploit the victories of summer 2022, and too late and limited to break through Russian defences last summer. It is even beginning to falter: blocked in the United States, it is also blocked in Europe by the Hungarian veto and the hesitation of a number of European governments.
The situation on the front line, in the occupied regions and in all the Ukrainian towns and territories under daily bombardment, is serious. And our country can play a leading role, because we are the continent's leading military power, with a defence industrial and technological base comprising more than 4,000 companies.
Implementing a system of economic and industrial solidarity with Ukraine would enable rapid action to be taken in five areas:
- increasing the sale, manufacture and delivery of arms and munitions ;
- give guarantees to the arms industry;
- work with our European partners to set up a control body to ensure a strict embargo on the export of dual-use technologies;
- encourage the pooling of civilian and military production tools in the service of defence;
- mobilise new financial resources to aid Ukraine.
France's commitment to Ukraine is undeniable, but we need to find ways of considerably increasing the production and delivery of French weapons which have proven their worth. Our President has promised 78 Caesar guns and 40 Scalp-EG air-to-ground missiles. We will have to finance the first Caesars in full and sell or manufacture more SCALPs. We also have a stock of Mirage 2000Ds, SAMP/T and Crotale air defence batteries, Mistral ground-to-air missiles and Exocet anti-ship missiles, Ground Master 200 radars and engineering vehicles, including SDZ mine-clearing robots.
In terms of production, three priorities emerge: the manufacture of 155mm shells, which is not up to the demands of the European programme; the delivery of drones of various types; and the supply of electronic warfare equipment. In the long term, these investments will help to improve France's defensive capabilities in the face of an increased risk of high-intensity conflict. French companies would still need to be able to obtain a 5 to 10 year guarantee on the volume of their orders, depending on their investments. Ukraine is not a 'foreign customer' like any other: it is a priority because its defence contributes to that of our country.
France's budgetary effort for Ukraine (around €2bn planned for 2024-25) should be at least doubled, in order to re-establish parity with Germany as a proportion of GDP. This increase takes into account:
- orders for the French army (in addition to those provided for in the 2024-2030 military programming law), to compensate for arms sales from its stocks, i.e. €1bn ;
- the increase in the support fund for Ukraine, which would need to be raised to €800m in 2024 (instead of the budgeted €200m) and to €1bn in 2025 (instead of €200m if the budget were to remain unchanged);
Several banking or tax sources could be used to cover arms expenditure, as indicated in the recent information report on the war economy by the National Assembly's Finance Committee. Another, more mobilising approach would be to call on the savings of the French people. In order to avoid an increase in external public debt, a national loan could be launched and a "Livret d'aide à l'Ukraine" (similar to the Livret de développement durable) created. This would enable our fellow citizens to get involved in supporting Ukrainian democracy.
Peace requires the complete withdrawal of the Russian army from Ukrainian territory. The resources that Ukraine has lacked for the past two years must be made available. And France can be the first in Europe to set an example of decisive commitment. The association For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours! and the signatories are calling upon us all.
Signatories
Galia Ackerman, Historian
Guillaume Ancel, former Officer and Columnist
Nicolas Bouzou, Economist
Bernard Bruneteau, Historian
Vincent Desportes, General (2S), French Army
Patrick Dutartre, General (2S), Air Force
Antoine Garapon, Magistrate
André Gattolin, former Senator
Michel Goya, Colonel in the French Navy and historian
Etienne Klein, Essayist
Marc Levy, Writer
Jonathan Littell, Writer
Ariane Mnouchkine, Founder of the Théâtre du Soleil
Jean-Paul Perruche, General (2S), lecturer and researcher
Olivier Py, Director of the Théâtre du Châtelet
Pierre Raiman, founding member of For Ukraine, for their Freedom and ours!
Nicolas Richoux, General (2S), the French Army, and Historian
Sylvie Rollet, Professor Emeritus, President of For Ukraine, for their freedom and ours!
Dominique Schnapper, former Member of the Constitutional Council
Pierre Servent, Author, Reserve Colonel (h)
Nicolas Tenzer, Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris
Xavier Tytelman, Defence Consultant
Michel Yakovleff, General (2S), French Army
Translation: For Ukraine, for their Freedom and Ours!