France, Macron: ‘An additional 36 billion for defence, we must be feared’

Milan, 15 January (LaPresse) – French President Emmanuel Macron has announced his intention to bring forward to 2027 ‘the target of a defence budget of 64 billion euros’, initially planned for 2030. ‘Thus, in two terms, the military budget will be doubled,’ he said in Istres, where he is visiting the city’s air base to wish the French armed forces a happy new year. The update to the military programming law ‘provides for an additional €36 billion over the period 2026-2030 to accelerate our rearmament, including €3.5 billion from 2026,’ he added, speaking to the military. This was reported by Bfmtv. ‘To remain free, we must be feared, and to be feared, we must be powerful,“ Macron said, ‘and to be powerful in this brutal world, we must act faster and with greater force”.