French president Emmanuel Macron has announced a plan to push forward France’s defence spending, pledging to double the military budget by 2027 – three years earlier than planned.
France had aimed to double its defence budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Mr Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027.
A military budget that stood at €32 billion in 2017 will rise to €64 billion by 2027, with an additional €3.5 billion allocated for next year and another €3 billion in 2027.
In a speech, the French leader listed a wide array of threats from terrorism to electronic and drone warfare, and underlined a permanent and organised threat from Russia that he said Europe must dissuade to ensure peace.
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“Never since 1945 has freedom been so threatened, and never has peace on our continent depended so much on the decisions we take today,” Mr Macron said in an address to the armed forces ahead of the annual July 14th Bastille Day military parade in Paris.
“Let’s put it simply: To be free in this world, you need to be feared, and to be feared you need to be powerful.”
Mr Macron said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make €40 billion in savings in its 2026 budget, would be paid for by increased economic activity.
“Our military independence is inseparable from our financial independence,” he said. “This will be financed through more activity and more production.”
He said prime minister Francois Bayrou would provide more details in an address on his plans for the 2026 budget on Tuesday.
Mr Bayrou is facing an uphill battle to steer billions of euros worth of savings through a bitterly divided parliament, as France strives to lower its budget deficit.
The French military-spending plan, which reflects Mr Macron’s ambition to project French power, comes as wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have transformed the security outlook for western nations, forcing many to reassess long-standing reluctance to allocate resources to armed forces. – Agencies
