French companies to manufacture drones in Ukraine

In the campaign of attrition and position that the war in Ukraine has become, FPV drones have quickly become ubiquitous and vitally essential.
Russia, initially relying mainly on Iranian Shaheds, soon put all the power of its war economy into manufacturing them itself.
Ukraine, although not able to rely on the same production capacity, is not to be outdone and can rely on its inventiveness, both in the construction and development of its own models and the effectiveness of their use - as demonstrated by the recent 'Spider's Web' operation- but also in the 're-use' of swarms launched by its adversaries.
Now Kyiv can count on some major support in this war at a distance: French automotive and defence companies are going to produce drones on Ukrainian soil.
Announcing the initiative on LCI, French Armed Forces Minister Sébastien Lecornu spoke of a "win-win" partnership with Ukraine.
"We're going to embark on a completely unprecedented partnership where a major company producing French cars - I'm not giving the name because it's up to it to announce it - is going to join forces with a French defence SME to arm production lines in Ukraine to be able to produce drones", the minister announced.
These drones, the type of which he did not specify, will be intended for the Ukrainians, " but we are also going to make them available to our own French armies so that we can have permanent tactical and operational training that reflects the reality " of the conflict.
As far as expertise and manpower are concerned, production will rest on the Ukrainians' shoulders: they "are better than we are at devising drones and, above all, developing the doctrine that goes with them", Lecornu admitted. " There's also no need to ask French citizens" to go and work on the production line in Ukraine.
The announcement follows the discussions that took place on 5 June in Brussels between the Ukrainian and French defence ministers on the joint production of weapons for Ukrainian defence needs.
"We are ready to offer this opportunity to the best manufacturers. Ukraine has combat experience and France has a solid industrial base. This is a strategic and mutually beneficial partnership", Ukrainian Miniser of Defence Rustem Umarierov emphasised, thanking Lecornu for his support.
At the 28th Ramstein meeting at NATO headquarters, Ukraine and its partners also decided to set up an armaments production mechanism.
Several European partners have recently invested in drone production in Ukraine
Finland has set up a drone manufacturing plant in cooperation with Ukrainian partners to produce drones for Ukraine and the EU, with mass production scheduled to begin in 2025.
The Netherlands has announced a €700m ($798m) investment to advance drone technology and support Ukraine's defence industry.
The UK is also investing hundreds of millions of dollars to increase drone production for Ukraine in 2025. Norway has redirected its funds to support Ukrainian drone production.
According to Jean-Paul Perruche, Lieutenant General and former Director General of the European Union Military Staff, quoted by LCI, France was until then "insufficiently prepared" for this upheaval in warfare practices: "I worked in the research department of the army staff, and we were already talking about drones at the end of the 1980s. But the context at the time was far from high-intensity. I think we fell behind on drones at a time when countries like the United States and others like China were forging ahead.
While the French army has a few thousand drones (3,000 for the army), Ukraine intends to use more than 4.5 million drones by 2025, which are responsible for 70% of the destruction of enemy equipment on the front line.
Both Poland and Portugal marked the beginning of pride month with parades held on Saturday afternoon.
The month of June is celebrated as pride month across the world, with festivals, demonstrations, parades, and other events bringing light to LGBTQ+ issues.
In Poland, Pride marches were held in the cities of Gdańsk and Wrocław, just one week after the election of conservative-nationalist Karol Nawrocki, who was endorsed by the Law and Justice party.
This was the 17th Pride Parade in Wrocław, and the 10th to take place in Gdańsk. In Wrocław, demonstrators set of from Freedom Square at 14:00, while the "Tri-City Equality March" encompassing the coastal cities of Gdańsk, Gdynia, and Sopot took off at 16:00. Both marches aimed to showcase the cities as inclusive towards all of their residents.
Several political leaders confirmed their participation in the marches, including Minister of Family, Labor and Social Policy Agnieszka Dziemianowicz-Bąk, Minister of Equality Katarzyna Kotula, Mayor of Gdańsk Agnieszka Dulkiewicz and Mayor of Sopot Magdalena Czarzyńska-Jachim.
City councilor and president of the Tolerado Association for LGBTQ+ rights, Marta Magott said in an interview with the official website of Gdańsk that the annual march is a "reminder of freedom, solidarity, and equality".
The event was significant in Poland, which still ranks as the second-worst country in the EU for LGBTQ+ people, after Romania, according to the advocacy group ILGA-Europe, which publishes an annual "Rainbow Map" ranking the countries based on political and social factors.
Poland had occupied the top spot in the rankings for six years, and made marginal progress since the election of the coalition government in 2023, according to the organization. Portugal, on the other hand, is in 11th place.
A Pride March will also take place on June 14 in Warsaw.
At the 26th LGBTQI+ Pride March in Lisbon on Saturday, thousands of people lined the avenues of the capital's downtown to defend human rights, equality and non-discrimination.
The march left Praça do Marquês de Pombal at 16:30 with one of this year's mottoes being "Resist and not just Exist", according to a joint manifesto published by one of the organising movements on social media.
At a time when the far-right is closer to political power and institutions in Portugal and Europe, hate speech and discrimination against LGBTQ+ minorities are resurfacing in national society, after more than 50 years of achievements in Portugal for equality and non-discrimination rights.
"The political forces that deny our rights are gaining institutional space, marching is reaffirming that we don't back down, that we exist, that we resist," says the Associação ILGA Portugal - Intervenção Lésbica, Gay, Bissexual, Trans e Intersexo (ILGA) on its Facebook account.
"Hate speech is trying to become normalised," adds ILGA, and "we cannot ignore the fact that freedom and democracy are under attack," warns. The group recalled that during the 48 years of dictatorship, the fascist regime denied the existence of homosexuals and lesbians, who were persecuted. Portugal lived under a dictatorship for almost 48 years.
Founded in 1995, ILGA Portugal is the oldest association defending LGBTQ+ people and their families against discrimination. It is part of ILGA World and the Platform for Fundamental Rights of the European Union Agency. "We are marching for the right to live with dignity, for all the people who came before us, for those who are here and for those who are yet to come."
"This is a right that has been won over the years in Portugal, and today it is under threat," said Mariana Mortágua, coordinator of the Left Bloc party, participating in the parade. 'Nowadays, it's difficult to demonstrate for human rights without being threatened by extreme right-wing forces and without the government doing something about it', Mortágua added in statements to Portuguese national television, RTP.
"We have to keep fighting for rights," said Hélder Bértolo of the March's organising committee, "it's important to be here, to raise our voices," he added regarding the threat of acquired rights being broken in the face of the rise of the radical right. Bértolo said these rights "have faded", especially in countries like Hungary. "Germany, the Netherlands, Poland and other European countries are also moving in this direction", the spokesperson told reporters.
The 2025 edition also saw the participation of the Commission for Citizenship and Gender Equality (CIG), which joined the 18 associations and groups with political intervention in defence of the LGBTQ+ community.

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