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France, which has about 300 nuclear warheads, is the only nuclear power in the European Union. The French president has in recent weeks adopted an increasingly tougher stance against Russia over its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and it's not the first time that he has suggested using France's nuclear weapons for EU defense. Macron first hinted at the possible move in 2020, when he called for a "strategic dialogue" on "the role of France's nuclear deterrent in [Europe's] collective security," in an attempt to open discussions on this issue with Germany, which hosts U.S. nuclear weapons on its soil. France then repeated the offer in 2022. So far, Berlin hasn't taken the French president up on his offer. But in January, Manfred Weber, leader of the center-right European People's Party (EPP) and a member of the Bavarian CSU, which is currently part of the German opposition, told POLITICO that Europe should "take up Macron's offer" in view of building "the European dimension of nuclear defense as a long-term goal."
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