Macron announces 10 months of voluntary military service for young people from 2026

The French President, Emmanuel Macron, has announced thelaunch of the voluntary military service , which will begin in the summer of 2026, and will last for ten months. The initiative is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 19 who will only participate in missions within French territory.

During his speech at the Varces barracks (in the French Alps), Macron explained that the project will start in the first phase with 3,000 young people. The President has indicated that according to forecasts it will be ten thousand by 2030 and, "depending on the threat ", it will be fifty thousand by 2035.