Teenagers in French president Emmanuel Macron’s first batch of national service recruits faint during ceremony
- Teens from France’s national service fainted during an outdoor ceremony
- Ten of the recruits were treated by first-aiders for heat exhaustion
- Mayor of Evreux said seriously affected teens were taken away for medical care
- Conscripts serve for one month, focusing on civic service and military training
Twenty nine teenagers from French president Emmanuel Macron’s first batch of national service recruits suffered from heat exhaustion during an outdoor ceremony.
The recruits, aged between 15 to 16 years-old, stood under the sun and in 30 degree heat during the inauguration of the Place de Gaulle at Evreux town hall, outside of Paris, The Telegraph reported.
At least ten of the teens were taken indoors and treated by first-aiders, according to the publication.
Guy Lefrand, mayor of Evreux, said in a report by Le Parisian: ‘Two or three were more seriously affected and one had to be taken away for medical care [by ambulance].’
Teens from French president Emmanuel Macron’s first batch of national service recruits fainted during an outdoor ceremony in Evreux, outside of Paris on Wednesday. At least ten of the teens were taken indoors and treated by first-aiders
Military conscript service in France was scrapped in 1996 and Macron is the first French President not to have been drafted.
Conscripts will be made to serve for one month, with a focus on civic service as well as military training, and the option of extending the placement of up to a year.
Macron promised to make all young people spend a month getting ‘a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands’ during his 2017 presidential campaign.
![Guy Lefrand, mayor of Evreux, said in a report by Le Parisian : 'Two or three were more seriously affected and one had to be taken away for medical care [by ambulance]' (pictured: teen being treated for heat exhaustion during the inauguration of the Place de Gaulle)](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/06/19/21/15002794-7159965-image-m-27_1560975164119.jpg)
Guy Lefrand, mayor of Evreux, said in a report by Le Parisian : ‘Two or three were more seriously affected and one had to be taken away for medical care [by ambulance]’ (pictured: teen being treated for heat exhaustion during the inauguration of the Place de Gaulle)
He billed it as a way to build social cohesion and patriotism in a country battling deep divisions, by bringing young people from different backgrounds together in a barracks.
France’s last conscripts were demobilised in 2001, ending nearly a century of military service which saw millions of men put through their paces.
While some French men look back fondly on their stint in the army, many middle-class youths called in well-placed contacts – or feigned mental health problems – to duck out of it.
Macron (pictured) promised to make all young people spend a month getting ‘a direct experience of military life with its know-how and demands’ during his 2017 presidential campaign