France eyes doubling defense budget by 2027 compared to 2017 level

ISTANBUL

French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced that they will double the defense budget by 2027 compared to its level in 2017.

"The defense budget in 2017 was €32 billion ($37B). On top of the current Military Programming Law, an additional €3.5 billion ($4B) will be allocated in 2026, followed by a further €3 ($3.5B) billion the next year. We will therefore allocate €64 billion ($74B) to our defense in 2027," Macron said during his speech on the eve of Bastille Day addressing armed forces at the Hotel de Brienne in Paris.

Calling the increase a "new and historic effort," he noted that it is "twice" the budget French armed forces had in 2017.

"This new, historic effort is proportionate, credible, and essential," Macron underscored.

He stated that the update to the military programming law will be presented this autumn and refused to allow the rearmament to be funded through debt.

"So, I say it here: Each must take their responsibility for the year ahead," Macron said, calling on parliamentarians to ensure that budget is passed on time without any delay.

Macron further urged Europeans to ensure its own security at a time when their freedom has "never" been so "threatened since 1945."

"Freedom trampled when the rules of war are erased, when everyone shirks international law, when the hope for peace is extinguished—in Europe, in the Near and Middle East, and in Africa. And when there are no more rules, it is the law of the strongest that prevails," he said.

He stressed that in order to be free in the world, one had to be feared—and to be feared, one had to be powerful.

"While the United States has introduced a form of uncertainty, our Europe now finds itself on the edge of a vast arc of crisis," Macron added.

Pointing to the now "multi-form" and "multi-layered" challenges ahead of the nation, he reiterated the need to harden their capabilities, forces, and the nation as a whole.