President Emmanuel Macron said France will make a "new” and "historic” effort to increase defense spending to counter an acceleration of threats to freedom in Europe and the risk of outright war in the coming years.
In a speech Sunday, the French leader said he will double the annual defense budget from when he took office in 2017 to €64 billion ($75 billion) by 2027, instead of 2029 as previously planned. That will require an additional €3.5 billion next year and €3.2 billion more the following year.
He listed a wide array of threats from terrorism to electronic and drone warfare, and underlined a permanent and organized threat from Russia that he said Europe must dissuade to ensure peace.
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