France: Macron announces boost in defence spending

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 originally planned – in response to a complex geopolitical moment.In his traditional address to the military on Sunday on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday, he said the accelerated spending, which comes as France is struggling to make 40 billion euros 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.”

France had aimed to double its defence budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027 because of new and unprecedented threats ranging from Russia to nuclear proliferation, terrorists and online attacks, he said. ″Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,” Macron said.