France brings back limited military service with 3,000 volunteers next year

"The only way to avoid danger is to prepare for it," says President Emmanuel Macron.

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More than 25 years after conscription was phased out, the plan will see young men and women volunteering for a paid 10 months of military training.

"The only way to avoid danger is to prepare for it," President Emmanuel Macron said while announcing the plan at an infantry base near Grenoble in south-east France. "We need to mobilise, mobilising the nation to defend itself, to be ready and remain respected."

The new "national service" will be brought in gradually from next summer, mainly for 18- and 19-year-olds, who will receive at least €800 (£700) a month.

"In this uncertain world where might triumphs over right, war is in the present tense," said Macron. The armed forces would benefit from motivated young French men and women, he added: "It is an act of trust in our youth."