French President Emmanuel Macron raises defence expenditure by 40% -

Paris: President Emmanuel Macron announced a 40 per cent increase in the country’s defence spending, saying that defence preparedness is necessary to maintain France’s freedom, security, prosperity and position worldwide. This increase will be for the period from 2024 to 2030, Macron explained. According to President Macron’s proposal, France will spend a whopping €413 billion on defence during this period. Macron also explained that priority would be given to nuclear weapons, military intelligence and drones.

Moreover, by warning that the post-Cold War era of peace is now over, the French President underscored the importance of defence preparedness. Macron made aware that France may face various future threats, such as ‘high-intensity conflict’. France has set defence spending at €295 billion for 2019 to 2025. But before the end of this period, the French President has taken steps to increase the spending on the defence forces.

The nature of war is changing rapidly. Therefore, France needs to keep its defence forces ready for the various threats of this century, both now and in the future. ‘France must always be ready for a future war,’ Macron explained his stance behind the huge provision for the defence forces. “France’s nuclear weapons are a force that sets France apart from the rest of Europe. The French President said that the modernization of nuclear weapons would be given importance, saying that its importance has increased in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Apart from nuclear weapons, there is a need to focus on military intelligence and drones, President Macron said in his speech.

In the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the United States and European countries have supplied large quantities of weapons to Ukraine. There are indications that this supply of arms will have to be maintained for the next few months. Claims that the defence capability of European countries is decreasing due to this arms support are coming out from various reports. Therefore, most of the leading countries in Europe have been forced to increase their defence spending. In the last few months, Germany and the United Kingdom also announced a big increase in defence spending.

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