France to hike military spending by a third: Macron
Friday, 20 January 2023 (22:26 IST)
French President Emmanuel Macron announced a major hike to military spending Friday to face evolving threats including Russia and China.
Macron said France would earmark €413 billion ($448 billion) on defense for the 2024-2030 period. That would mark a €118 billion increase from the 2019-2025 period, where Paris has pledged to spend some €295 billion.
He made the commitment during a speech to military personnel in the southwest of the country addressing the country's new defense strategy in the wake of the Ukraine war.
'Freedom, security, prosperity' at stake
Macron said the new funds help ensure "our freedom, our security, our prosperity, our place in the world."
The proposed defense bill would start building capacities back up after chronic underinvestment in the previous decades, the French leader told soldiers at the Mont-de-Marsan air base.
He branded the new 2024-2030 budget a "transformation" program to adapt the military to the possibility of high-intensity conflicts, made all the more urgent since Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
"France has and will have armies ready for the challenges of the century," he said, adding that there was an accumulation of threats.
Major budget hike for military intelligence
Under the plans, the military intelligence budget will increase by nearly 60% while the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DRM) and the Directorate of Intelligence and Security of Defense (DRSD) will see their funding double, Macron said, with the aim of being "one war ahead."
Macron also called for modernizing France's nuclear arsenal. He wants France's military strategy to strengthen the country's role as an independent global power.
Friday's speech comes as defense officials from the US and allies are meeting in Ramstein, Germany, to discuss further help for Ukraine.
France joins Germany in defense boost
France's military capacities have come under scrutiny since Russia invaded Ukraine last February.
Paris has since delivered weapons to Kyiv, and has pledged highly-mobile AMX-10 RC light tanks.
The war has pushed several other European states to hike defense spending.
Last year, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced an extra €100 billion for the country's armed forces, the Bundeswehr.
Even before the Ukraine conflict, annual military spending by EU countries reached €200 billion in 2021, the European Defense Agency said last month.
As well as Russia, European leaders are concerned by China's threats to take Taiwan by force, if it moves further towards independence. Beijing considers the island its territory.
