On January 20, the President of France Emmanuel Macron proposed to increase military spending by more than a quarter — by more than €100 billion.
Reuters writes about it.
Macron wants to plan the defense budget for 2024-2030 at the level of €413 billion. For comparison, for the years 2019-2025, €295 billion was set for military spending.
If approved, the annual military budget will increase by an average of 28.5%, from €49.2 billion to €68.8 billion per year.
According to Macron, France will invest heavily in drones and military intelligence. He also added that the country will strengthen its ability to respond to cyber attacks and increase its military potential.
In particular, France will pay special attention to its military presence overseas, especially in the Indo-Pacific region, where new threats are emerging, President Macron noted.
- Citing its own sources, the Politico publication wrote that France is considering the possibility of supplying Ukraine with Leclerc tanks, and French Minister of Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu noted that his country plans to transfer AMX 10-RC armored fighting vehicles to Ukraine within two months.