STRAIGHT. The chief of cabinet of the armies says that “the Kremlin has made us a priority objective”

“We are spied,” says Thierry Burkhard. “It does not save us the effects of competition in the economic and technological field in particular,” explains the head of the armies.

Thierry Burkhard remarkably quotes a recent campaign directed by China that aimed to “discredit our weapons industry, especially the rafale.”

Speaking about the situation of near and the Middle East, Thierry Burkhard said we are “attending a strategic breakdown of balances since October 7 with a burst of violence.”

For the head of the Army staff, the threats that loom over France point to “national cohesion”, “the center of gravity of our country”.

For him, national cohesion can “deter” but can also “inhibit our ability to react and our desire to defend himself.” “Then we understand why our competitors and opponents are interested in attacking this national cohesion,” he said.

Thierry Burkhard adds that “the privileged mode is misinformation,” saying that “these threats are difficult to counteract and formally attribute.”

When reading the threats that are loom over France, the chief of armies staff warns against “exogenous risks related to climate change.”

“Climate change plays a role and its effects will feel more and more in the future,” adds Thierry Burkhard, who states that “he feels it in the national territory.”

It is “necessarily something that tension the media of the state,” said the soldier.

“The terrorist threat remains present” in the national territory, says Thierry Burkhard.

“Even if our internal and security forces and intelligence reviewers have progressed a lot and today they are more able to frustrate expected attacks instead of having to treat them and manage the consequences,” he adds.

Thierry Burkhard makes a “general description of the threat” and speaks of a “strategic environment marked by crisis that overlap and add another way.”

“30 years ago, the Sur estimated that there were 30 conflicts, against 120 today,” he illustrated, speaking of “change of repository.”

The chief of armies staff “struggles to discern what the doors of exit or stabilization could be in the short term.” He says he doesn’t see “going visible,” he admits.

He is the country’s highest soldier. Thierry Burkhard, 60, became chief of armies on July 7, 2021.

Saint-Cyrien, first chose to serve in the infantry weapon, indicates the Ministry of the Armed Forces in place.

The paratrooper in Corsica later “promoted the captain in 1992, was successively assistant to the company’s commander,” says the Ministry. Thierry Burkhard is projected in Guyana, Iraq, former Yugoslavia, Chad, Gabon or Afghanistan.

In September 2013, he became an advisor to the National Intelligence Coordinator of the Presidency of the Republic.

In recent years, in Europe, as on the other side of the Atlantic and other countries of the world, the trend is the increase in the budget dedicated to defense.

In France, the Military Programming Law amounts to 413 billion euros for armies between 2024 and 2030, with annual budget increases of 3 billion.

Last month, NATO countries promised to invest 5% of their GDP in favor of defense and security in 2035.

In detail, the allies want to assign “at least 3.5 % of GDP annually” for military spending, and additional 1.5 % for safety in the broadest sense, such as “protection of critical infrastructure” and the defense of “networks.”

Emmanuel Macron will pronounce a speech to the armies on Sunday and must include “important ads” against “international threats.”

Based on the conclusions of the strategic strategic magazine he had ordered in January, and that he must be published shortly, “the president considers and will say that we are in a moment of advice, because freedom has probably never been as threatened today as since 1945,” according to the Elysée.

Among these “advice”, “the acceleration of the Russian threat that is organized, is preparing and will be necessary to face”, but also the “disinhibition of the use of force worldwide”, the erosion of the “ancient associations”, the challenge of international order and technological revolutions.

Such speaking for the chief of cabinet of armies is very rare. In fact, it is the first time since September 2021 that this soldier, the highest rank in France, lends itself to this exercise.

In addition, this press conference occurs a few days after another unprecedented intervention of the head of the DGSE Nicolas Lerner on television.

Hello everyone, welcome to this direct dedicated to the monitoring of the press conference of the chief of cabinet of the armies Thierry Burkhard that day at 11 am

The issue of the chief of state, “it is good to talk about threats and draw the conclusions in associated defense matters and financing efforts,” said Elysée, for whom it will be a “structuring discourse for the future of our armies.”