Polish President Andrzej Duda has expressed support for Poland to benefit from both NATO’s nuclear umbrella and France’s independent nuclear deterrent, viewing them as complementary measures to bolster national security.
“I believe we can accept both solutions,” Duda stated in an interview with Bloomberg on April 18, 2025. “These two ideas are neither contradictory nor mutually exclusive.”
This stance follows Duda’s earlier call for the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Polish territory, arguing that NATO’s infrastructure should reflect the alliance’s expanded eastern borders. He emphasized that positioning such weapons in the region would enhance safety, especially in light of Russia’s deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus in 2023.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has also indicated openness to French President Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to extend France’s nuclear deterrent to other European Union nations.
Tusk noted that his government would “carefully” consider the initiative, highlighting ongoing discussions about enhancing Europe’s strategic autonomy amid concerns over potential US disengagement from European defense.
France, the sole nuclear power in the European Union, possesses around 290 nuclear warheads. Unlike NATO’s Nuclear Sharing, relying on US-controlled bombs, France operates its nuclear forces independently, ensuring all components are free from US ITAR regulations. The airborne nuclear deterrent is delivered by another ITAR-free platform, the Dassault Rafale fighter jet.
