France in September 2026: the most important developments in security
In September 2026 France's security agenda was dominated by the announcement that it would send military forces to Saudi Arabia. On September 24 reports said France would help defend a Saudi oil port, and on September 25 the government announced the deployment of troops, including air defence units, to protect the Red Sea oil route and the port city of Yanbu. President Emmanuel Macron said the move responds to increased Houthi attacks and that allies were uniting behind Saudi Arabia; Saudi Arabia reported fresh Houthi attacks the same day. The National Rally and the left-wing La France insoumise both oppose sending French troops. Details of troop numbers and equipment were not disclosed.
Russian hybrid threats were the second theme. Macron said on September 1, after an attempted drone attack in Germany, that such attacks in Europe cannot go unanswered, and he repeated the message on September 18 and 19 alongside Poland and other allies, without specifying measures. On September 24 and 25 he denied that the CIA had warned French services of a possible Russian drone attack. Foreign Minister Barrot said a Russian strike on a train at the Ukraine-Poland border was meant to intimidate and divide Europeans. Finland decided on September 14 to join France's forward nuclear deterrence initiative, which Macron proposed in March, and France said it would reinforce Ukraine's air defence with radars and interceptors. France awarded its first Rafale F5 contracts, and an artillery regiment dispersed and concealed its guns to counter drones.
On crime and domestic security, a wave of smash-and-grab thefts hit museums, a Lyon jewellery shop was robbed with employees held hostage, and four youths were jailed in Lyon for a violent racist attack. Several cases of child abuse in Paris after-school and nursery settings led to charges, and French authorities began investigating the covert filming of women with smart glasses. A former Islamic State fighter remained in France because Algeria refused to take him back.
by WorldBrief & Maksim Micheliov | AI-generated summary
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