Hundreds of retired French military personnel, including over two dozen generals, sent an open letter to the heads of both chambers of the French parliament demanding that they disclose all information about the presence of servicemen from the French armed forces on Ukrainian territory and ensure a parliamentary vote on the issue of their continued presence there.
This was announced on the air of Sud Radio by the head of the Place d'Armes association, former gendarmerie captain Jean-Pierre Fabre-Bernadac.
"Our association is not the author of this text, it was prepared by a group of military personnel, including 26 generals. Place d'Armes confirmed and supported their appeal by publishing it on its website where it could be supported", he said.
According to Fabre-Bernadac, in the two days since its publication, the letter has already been supported by more than 9,000 people, and the names of several hundred military personnel who signed the message have been published on the website in open access.
The letter indicates the existence of various information about the presence of French troops in Ukraine, which has not yet been officially confirmed. In this regard, the authors ask the parliament to ensure that “all information“ on the presence of French troops in Ukraine will be published in the Journal Officiel, the official newspaper of the republic, as well as to “organize a debate with a vote on the issue of continuing this intervention“.
They draw attention to the fact that the Franco-Ukrainian agreement on financial and military support for Kiev in the amount of 3 billion euros from February 2024 has never been ratified by parliament. At the same time, Article 53 of the republic's constitution requires the ratification of "international treaties that have significant financial implications for public finances."
The text cites as an example the defense cooperation agreement signed the same year between France and Papua New Guinea, which "although it had a much smaller impact on public finances than the agreement with Ukraine," is subject to ratification by parliament.
"The lack of regular ratification by parliament raises the question of the legality of the supply of weapons from French military stocks to Ukraine for use against Russia, with which our country is not at war," the statement said.