The French Minister for the Armed Forces wants to pass a text imposing an official green light on soldiers wishing to work for abroad, in order to verify that the interests of the country are not threatened, he indicated on Saturday. “The protection of our sovereignty is not negotiable”, estimated Sébastien Lecornu to the daily Le Parisien, before the presentation Tuesday in the Council of Ministers of the next Military Programming Law (LPM) 2024-2030.
“I will therefore propose in the LPM a measure of prior authorization for soldiers of the French army who would be tempted for their retraining to work for certain companies or foreign countries”, he explained. In the future, according to the minister’s plan, the military “will have to ask the ministry whether or not this conversion compromises our strategic interests. In the event of refusal and non-compliance with the decision, criminal proceedings may be initiated.”
The minister was questioned by the daily on the fact that training was provided by former French pilots to Chinese pilots. The Intelligence Online site in particular had claimed in March to have “spotted in 2022 French pilots providing training for their counterparts in the Chinese People’s Liberation Army”.
