Citizens’ resolution

(9 May 2025) (CH-S) French officers are calling for clarity on their country’s involvement in the Ukraine conflict. They are therefore calling on parliament to publish all information about the presence of French troops in Ukraine since 2022 in the Official Journal of the Republic.

This appeal has been signed by more than two dozen French generals and several hundred other members of the armed forces. Since the end of April 2025, more than 30,000 signatures from French citizens have been collected in support of the appeal.

Below, “Swiss Standpoint” documents the wording of this resolution.

Citizens’ resolution on France’s military and financial involvement in Ukraine, delivered to the presidents of both chambers of parliament on 17 April 2025

For many months, France has been mobilising its diplomatic, financial and military resources in the Russian Ukrainian conflict. The President of the Republic has never received approval for this from either the people or Parliament.

True to its original mission and in line with the first and now famous “Tribune des Généraux”, “Place d’Armes” joins this legitimate initiative by our comrades in the military and civilian population, who are calling for respect for the sovereignty of the people in highly sensitive matters concerning the use of its financial and military resources. Sign this citizens’ resolution with us!

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Article L 4111-1 of the Defence Act states:

“The army of the Republic is at the service of the nation. Its mission is to prepare and ensure the defence of the fatherland and the higher interests of the nation by force of arms.”

Since early 2022, there have been persistent, albeit unconfirmed, reports of French troops in Ukraine. If these reports are confirmed, this would raise serious questions about compatibility with Article 35 of the Constitution, which requires the government to inform Parliament within three days of any military intervention abroad and to submit any extension beyond four months to a vote.

However, no clear statement has been made prior to the parliamentary sessions, leaving citizens in the dark and denying them their right to democratic control over the deployment of their army.

Furthermore, the security agreements signed between France and Ukraine on 16 February 2024, which provide for military and financial support amounting to €3 billion for 2024 and a multi-year military commitment, should have been ratified by Parliament in accordance with Article 53 of the Constitution, as international treaties with significant financial implications for public finances require parliamentary ratification.

For example, on 7 February 2024, the defence cooperation agreement between France and Papua New Guinea, which is far less burdensome for public finances than the agreement concluded with Ukraine, was ratified by Parliament in accordance with Article 531.

However, Parliament has not yet taken a position on the ratification of the Franco-Ukrainian security agreements, which calls into question their legality and enforceability both vis-à-vis the state and vis-à-vis French citizens, who are expected to pay for the financial support to Ukraine.

Furthermore, Article 55 of the Constitution provides that

“treaties or agreements duly ratified or approved shall, upon publication, take precedence over laws, subject to the application of any agreement or treaty by the other party.”

The lack of proper ratification by Parliament raises the question of the legality of deliveries of weapons from French army stocks to Ukraine, which it intends to use against the Russian Federation, with which our country is not at war.

Article 411-3 of the Criminal Code states:

“The delivery of materials, structures, equipment, installations or devices intended for national defence to a foreign power, a foreign or foreign-controlled company or organisation or their representatives shall be punishable by thirty years’ imprisonment and a fine of 450,000 euros.”

Finally, the recent statements by the President of the Republic, in which he mentions the possible deployment of French troops in May 2025 and the shared use of nuclear weapons, require prior parliamentary debate to ensure the legitimacy of such decisions on behalf of the nation. This is an essential prerequisite for the legality of military operations. An army acting without a clear parliamentary mandate would no longer be serving the nation, but an isolated executive, which is contrary to the spirit of our Constitution and Article 16 of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, which enshrines the separation of powers as a guarantee of rights:

“Any society in which the guarantee of rights is not assured, and the separation of powers is not established has no constitution.”

For this reason, we, citizens and former members of the armed forces, believe that, in accordance with Article 35 of the Constitution, Parliament must be consulted on the continuation of French military action and/or its engagement in Ukraine and, in accordance with Article 53, must also be called upon to ratify the Franco-Ukrainian security agreements of 16 February 2024.

Proposed resolutions: We, citizens and former members of the armed forces, call on members of parliament and senators to: 1.    publish all information on the presence of French troops in Ukraine since 2022 in accordance with Article 35 of the Official Journal; 2.    organise a debate followed by a vote on the continuation of this intervention in accordance with Article 35; 3.    To express their opinion on the ratification of the Franco-Ukrainian security agreements of 16 February 2024, in accordance with Article 53; 4.    To place this resolution on the agenda within 15 days of its submission to ensure the full exercise of parliamentary control.

Source: https://www.place-armes.fr/résolution-citoyenne, 17 April 2025

(Translation “Swiss Standpoint”)