French Military Chief of Staff: “Be Prepared to Lose Your Children”
20th November 2025
The chief of staff of the French armed forces addressed the mayors of France with some highly controversial remarks this week. Acknowledging the threats currently facing the European continent and the weakness of French forces, he asked French families to “prepare to lose your children.” Given Macron’s weakness on the international stage and his loss of political credibility, this warmongering tone has not gone down well and has been unanimously condemned by both the Left and the Right.
During his visit to the congress of mayors on Tuesday, November 18th, the chief of staff of the French armed forces, General Fabien Mandon, spoke of the imminence of a military confrontation with Vladimir Putin’s Russia. The language used in his speech caused his audience to jump when he called on the country to “accept the loss of its children.”
The general sought to rouse the mayors of France by pointing out the lack of fighting spirit in today’s France, which is mired in endless stagnation: “We have all the knowledge, all the economic and demographic strength to deter the Moscow regime. What we lack, and this is where you have a major role to play, is the strength of character to accept that we must suffer in order to protect who we are,” he explained. Addressing local elected officials and calling on them to bear witness, given their proximity to the French people, he concluded, “You must talk about this in your cities.”