Polish and French officials have held the first consultations to discuss French President Emmanuel Macron’s “nuclear umbrella” initiative, Poland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “As a follow-up to the French President’s proposal to engage in a strategic dialogue on forward deterrence with European partners, Poland and France held the first consultations of the Steering Group for Nuclear Cooperation, which took place in Paris on 10 July 2026,” the Polish MFA said in a post on X. Warsaw did not elaborate, saying only that the two delegations “focused on Europe’s current security situation” and outlined the scope of further bilateral talks.
Macron floated the concept in a televised address from France’s Île Longue submarine base on March 2, branding it “advanced deterrence": joint nuclear exercises with partner countries (e.g. expanding France’s quarterly Operation Poker drills beyond French airspace) and the temporary deployment of elements of France’s strategic air forces onto the territory of other European states. Macron has since said Paris no longer intends to disclose the exact size of its arsenal and has announced plans to expand it. Germany, Belgium, the Netherlands, Greece, Sweden, and Denmark have all indicated openness to similar steering-group arrangements, alongside an existing Franco-British nuclear cooperation framework dating to July 2025.
