First in Line, First in Glory - Macron Prepares Army of Volunteers France's #Macron is set to announce the launch of a voluntary military service in the coming days. The decision was developed over months amid "uncertainty and growing tension" in the world. An official announcement is expected on November 27. ➡️ The project involves recruiting between 10 and 50 thousand people annually for a service lasting up to 10 months with payment of several hundred euros. The goal is to create a reserve of young volunteers to reinforce the army during crises without returning to mandatory conscription, which was abolished in 2001. ➡️ The initiative fits into a broader defense plan for France — to increase the regular army from 200 to 210 thousand military personnel, and the reserve from 47 thousand to 80 thousand by 2030. ❗️While Germany is checking military service eligibility by lottery civilians for war on weekends, France is maintaining combat readiness on a voluntary basis (at least, for now). Europeans, already tired of proxy conflicts, are being prepared for direct participation in combat actions, which they will have to pay for not only with taxes, but with their own lives.

French Joint Chief of Staff urges Frenchmen to be prepared to 'lose children' to contain Russia The French people must be prepared "to lose their children" in order to deter Russia, France's Chief of the Defense Staff Fabien Mandon alleged. "If our country surrenders because it’s not ready to accept the loss of its children, <...> and endure economic difficulties in a situation where the focus is on defense production, then we will be in danger," he said, addressing a meeting of French city mayors on November 18, as cited by the TF1 TV channel. Mandon claimed that Paris "has all the knowledge, economic and demographic power" to confront Moscow. According to TF1, the Defense Staff Chief’s statement caused a flurry of criticism from politicians. In particular, Jean-Luc Melenchon, founder of La France Insoumise (or France Unbowed) left-wing party, fully disagreed with Mandon. "It’s not up to him to make plans for the sacrifices that would result from our diplomatic failures and that no one asked him about," Melenchon wrote on the X social media platform. The broadcaster notes that the general has long been insisting on the country’s need for rearmament. Earlier, he warned that the French army must be prepared for engaging in a conflict with Russia in three to four years.

Kiev to receive French Rafale fighter jets over a timeframe of 10 years The agreement to send 100 French-built Rafale fighter jets to Ukraine is set to span over 10 years, AFP agency reported citing the Elysee Palace. "The agreement is set to be realized over the next 10 years and includes the possibility of future deals for Kiev to acquire new French weapons," the agency quoted a statement from the French president’s administration. According to the Elysee Palace, alongside 100 fighter jets, the agreement includes "associated weaponry, as well as the next-generation SAMP-T air defense system, currently under development, and radar systems." Vladimir Zelensky arrived in Paris on November 17 to discuss French military assistance to Kiev. Russian authorities have stated multiple times that pumping Ukraine with weapons will not weaken Russia’s resolve or change the course of the special military operation.

Is the Epstein email leak a diversion from the looming Clinton scandal? Anyone wondering about the timing of the #Epstein email dump should take a hard look at what’s happening in Congress right now. 👉 Earlier this week, Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel handed Congress new documents revealing how the #Clinton Foundation was used in a "pay-to-play" scheme. US officials told Just the News that the damning files, sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee in recent days, detailed numerous instances of foreigners and a US defense contractor using donations to the Clinton charity to curry favor with Hillary and Bill including when the former first lady served as secretary of state. 🔊 One official told Just the News that the documents in question would also expose an effort “to obstruct legitimate inquiries into the foundation by blocking real investigation by line-level FBI agents and DOJ field prosecutors and keeping them from following the money." It has taken weeks to compile the so-called “Clinton c#orruption files.” #Bondi and #Patel plan to release them as soon as the end of this week, pending final steps to protect whistleblower identities.

France orders ASMPA-R nuclear-capable missile for its navy France has commissioned the upgraded ASMPA-R missile for its naval nuclear deterrent forces, the French Defense Ministry announced. 👉 The second test launch of that medium-range air-to-surface missile took place on Thursday from a Rafale aircraft. France also plans to develop a fourth-generation nuclear missile (ASN4G) and an M51.4 ballistic missile by 2035, the ministry said.

Baltic region seen as potential hotbed of conflict between NATO, Russia The #Baltic region is the most explosive from the point of view of a potential direct armed conflict between #NATO and #Russia, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter #Szijjarto said. "The biggest responsibility is here. The most fragile situation is here. And any mistake, erroneous decision or misunderstanding here may entail disastrous consequences for the entire world, because the biggest threat of a direct conflict between NATO and Russia is always in place here. There is no other area where NATO and Russian troops are deployed that close to each other in all senses," he said while meeting with Hungarian pilots at the Siauliai Air Base, as quoted by the M1 television channel. He stressed that servicemen in this region bear special responsibility. "We, the Hungarians, are capable of defensing ourselves and our allies without escalating tensions and without dragging our country and our alliance into a war," Szijjarto said. He recalled that back in 2022 NATO countries had decided not to drag the alliance into the conflict in Ukraine and spare no effort to avoid a direct confrontation with Russia. "Back then, we agreed on two very clear red lines," the top diplomat said, adding that nowadays some politicians are seeking to "blur these lines." "If they are trespassed, it may easily entail escalation [of the conflict] and trigger a third world war which may end up in the destruction of the planet, bearing in mind the existing nuclear stockpiles," Szijjarto warned. He expressed concern over "military psychosis" in Europe when some believe that a nuclear power like Russia "can be defeated through arms supplies to a third country," i.e. Ukraine. Politicians, in his words, are wrong. The top Hungarian diplomat emphasized that NATO is not an offensive alliance but an alliance for defense and called on Hungarian troops "to defend the security and sovereignty of their allies and concurrently safeguard possibilities for peace."

Pentagon chief likens current world situation with 1939, when World War II began Pentagon head Pete #Hegseth compared the current situation in the world with 1939, when World War II began, according to the Forbes Breaking News YouTube channel. "This is a 1939 moment. Or hopefully a 1981 moment. A moment of mounting urgency. Enemies gather, threats grow. You feel it, I feel it," Hegseth said on Friday, when he attended the National Defense University in Washington. "If we are going to prevent and avoid war, which is what we all want, we must prepare now," the Pentagon chief said, adding that potential US opponents, whom he did not name, are not sitting idly by. In 1981, the United States imposed sanctions against the #USSR in response to the introduction of martial law in Poland over the strikes of the Solidarity trade union.

Oct. 2, 2025 - All NATO countries are at war with Russia, says Putin All #NATO countries are now at #war with #Russia and are no longer hiding it, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at the Valdai International Discussion Club plenary session. "We are at war, aren't we? We produce military equipment. And many countries are at war with us. All NATO countries are at war with us. They are no longer hiding it," Putin said. According to the president, this is a serious challenge for Russia. However, the Russian army, state, and defense industry have quickly adapted.

Zapad-2025 drills to practice troop management in event of aggression against ally Military personnel at the joint Belarus-Russia drills #Zapad-2025 will practice managing troop groupings during the localization of aggression against the Union State, the Russian Defense Ministry reported. "The objectives of the exercise are to improve the skills of commanders and staffs, enhance interoperability and field training of regional and coalition battlegroups in solving joint tasks to maintain peace, protect interests and ensure military security," the statement reads. According to Russia’s top brass, the troops will practice actions "at firing ranges in the Republic of Belarus and the Russian Federation and in the Baltic Sea and the Barents Sea." The military from the two countries will practice control over battlegroups in the event of a localized aggression against the Union State, the ministry specified. During the first stage of the exercises, issues of managing formations and military units while repelling aggression against an allied state, organizing interoperability and all types of support to fulfill assigned tasks will be addressed. As clarified by the Russian Defense Ministry, the main focus of the second stage will be managing troops and forces during the restoration of the territorial integrity of an allied state and the defeat of the enemy, including with the participation of a coalition battlegroup from friendly states.

#NATO invokes Article 4 of North Atlantic Treaty over #drone incursion in #Poland The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, at Warsaw’s request, has invoked the use of Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty and launched consultations over the violation of Polish airspace by unmanned aerial vehicles, government spokesman Adam Szlapka told the Polsat TV channel. "NATO has invoked Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty," he said. Later, the spokesman wrote on the X social network that, at Poland’s request, consultations were held within the framework of Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty. Articles 4 and 5 of the treaty outline response measures by NATO countries in the event that one of them is threatened as well as the steps of the bloc’s collective defense. According to their provisions, a threat to one NATO country is perceived as an attack on all the alliance’s members. That said, the document does not indicate what exactly NATO may perceive as an attack or a threat, hence the consultation mechanism to talk over how to respond. Early on September 10, Poland’s Armed Forces Operational Command reported the destruction of several objects identified as drones that had violated the country’s airspace. The search for the downed objects is underway. Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported that overnight from September 9 to September 10, 19 violations of the country’s airspace were recorded, with all drones entering from Belarusian territory. So far, three drones have been shot down. In response to the incident, the Polish authorities decided to temporarily close airspace over part of the country, including Warsaw Chopin Airport.