Rebecca Rosman

The new program invites 18 and 19-year-olds to voluntarily enlist starting next summer.

In his announcement, Macron said he wanted to boost France's defense capabilities with Russia's war in Ukraine, putting the entire European continent at, quote, great risk.

With 200,000 active forces, France currently has the second largest military in the European Union, just behind Poland.

The plan to increase the number of forces comes just a week after France's new army chief of staff warned that the country needed to be prepared to, quote, lose its children in the event of a potential conflict with Russia.

words that were met with widespread backlash in France.

For NPR News, I'm Rebecca Rossman in Paris.

After his dramatic resignation and reinstatement last week, Le Colneau is moving quickly to stabilize France's government.

He unveiled a second cabinet late Sunday, after the last one collapsed in just 14 hours, in hopes of passing a budget before a looming Monday deadline.

The plan aims to rein in public spending as France faces one of the highest debt levels in the Eurozone.

Several ministers have been replaced, including those overseeing finance and labor, as L'Écranou works to restore confidence in President Emmanuel Macron's struggling centrist coalition.

But opposition parties say it's more of the same and are preparing another no-confidence vote later this week.

Rebecca Rossman, NPR News, Paris.