France's ambassador says Canada can join European defence push

OTTAWA · France's ambassador to Canada says her country is willing to deepen defence procurement cooperation with Ottawa, even as it pursues a European arms industry independent of American suppliers. Ambassador Hélène Farnaud-Defromont stated that while France advocates for European-made military equipment, it recognizes the goal of full autonomy will take time. She said France, with its comprehensive defence industrial base, is positioned to help Canada strengthen its own capabilities through shared practices and joint projects. "In the defence sector and in other equally strategic sectors, France advocates for a European preference in procurement," Farnaud-Defromont said in an interview. "The ideal for us would be to achieve 100 per cent European content but, once again, we’re being realistic. We know we’re all going to need a bit of time to reach that goal." She noted that France is the sole EU member state to have maintained a complete defence industrial and technological foundation.

The ambassador pointed to Canada's recent entry into the EU's Security Action for Europe, or SAFE, loan program as a positive step. Canada joined the initiative in February as its first non-European partner. The program provides low-interest loans for member states to purchase military gear and is part of the broader ReArm Europe effort to reduce reliance on American weaponry. So far, only one contract involving Canada has materialized from SAFE.

"The fact that Canada has joined SAFE, I think that’s a very good thing," Farnaud-Defromont said. "We now need to see things come to fruition. We need this partnership to actually take shape." She declined to speculate on how Canada's defence industrial base, which is largely composed of branches of American corporations, might affect its participation in the European-focused program. The EU aims for SAFE projects to meet a threshold of 65 per cent European-origin components, a standard France already meets in its own procurement.

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Farnaud-Defromont also expressed deep concern about the war in Ukraine, stating the French people are "extremely concerned and worried" about its implications for European freedom. She thanked Canada for its strong support of Ukraine, which she said is appreciated across the continent. "We are in fact facing an all-out war on European soil following Russia's invasion of Ukraine," she said. "The front line is just a few hundred kilometres from Paris. It is not that far away."

The ambassador described a deeply disrupted international order, with dozens of armed conflicts having widespread consequences. A career diplomat of 32 years, Farnaud-Defromont said her working environment bears no resemblance to the one she knew. France, a founding NATO member, has historically maintained autonomy within the alliance, having withdrawn from its integrated command structure for much of the Cold War. The country has long promoted a European pillar of collective security, a vision that contrasts with American leadership. This push intensified after former U.S. president Donald Trump's interest in acquiring Greenland. "We have long been committed to developing, within the European Union and within NATO, a European pillar, and within the European Union a community that is also strategic," Farnaud-Defromont said. She added, "We are by no means pleased with the situation within NATO, which is, to say the least, very confused." Former Canadian ambassador to NATO Kerry Buck has cautioned that a greater NATO focus on European defence could make Canada less safe. In a June 2025 commentary for Policy Magazine, Buck wrote that Canada had historically resisted a European pillar within the alliance for fear of being sidelined and to prevent the EU from exercising strategic autonomy that might compete with NATO.

With files from The Canadian Press, The Globe and Mail and Narcity