Moldova is facing increasingly blatant Russian attempts aiming at destabilising the country, which shares a border with Ukraine and wants to join the European Union by 2030, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday.

To face that threat without the United States, Macron said he had decided to open a strategic debate on expanding France's nuclear deterrent to protect the country's European allies — something incoming German Chancellor Friedrich Merz has also advocated.

In a solemn address on Ukraine and European defense, the French president promised a major budgetary effort and called for a national reflection on 'the solutions of tomorrow.'

"We have decided to again reinforce our cooperation to increase Moldova's resilience faced with foreign interference," Macron said as both signed a deal to cooperate on detecting digital disinformation.