• President Emmanuel Macron, Jan. 20, 2023. | Photo: Twitter/ @NewsQorilab

  
  

President Macron insisted that France must be able to lead a European operation and to deploy its own force of "up to 20,000 men."

On Friday, President Emmanuel Macron announced that the French Defense budget will increase by more than a third for the period 2024-2030 with the aim of giving its Army a "European dimension" and preparing it for multiple threats.

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During a speech at the Mont-de-Marsan air base, he announced that he will ask Parliament for a budget of 413 billion euros for the next seven years.
"Threats are multiple and add to each other," Macron said and listed tension scenarios such as the eastern Mediterranean, the eastern China sea and the Ukrainian conflict.
"After repairing the armies, we are going to transform them", he pointed out and explained that this transformation will mainly consist of strengthening the nuclear deterrent, which "is an element that makes France a different country in Europe."

The information and intelligence services budget will grow by 60 percent in order to better resist cyber attacks. France will also reinforce its operational reserve and special forces.
Macron also spoke of the "accelerated digitization of the battlefield," the development of the next-generation aircraft carrier, the doubling of investments in drones and the Air Combat System (FCAS), which encompasses France, Germany, and Spain.
He insisted that France must be able to lead a European operation and to deploy its own force of "up to 20,000 men."