French President Macron announces 6.5 billion euros in extra military spending in next two years
Emmanuel Macron, the French President, has declared an increase in military expenditure. An additional 6.5 billion euros will be allocated over the next two years. This decision comes in response to growing threats. These threats include Russia, terrorism, and cyber attacks. France aims to significantly boost its annual defense spending by 2027.
AP French President Emmanuel Macron speaks to the army leaders at the Hotel le Brienne French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday announced 6.5 billion euros in extra military spending in the next two years because of new and unprecedented threats, from Russia to terrorists to online attacks. The French leader laid out the spending plans in a sweeping speech calling for intensified efforts to protect Europe. He said France will aim to spend 64 billion euros in annual defense spending in 2027, the last year of his second term; that would be double the 32 billion in annual spending when he became president in 2017. ″Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously,'' Macron said in the French president's traditional speech to the military on the eve of the Bastille Day national holiday. ″To be free in this world we must be feared. To be feared we must be powerful,'' he said. He insisted that France can find the money to spend more on the military even as it tries to bring down massive debts. Conservative and far-right parties have supported greater defense spending, while left-wing parties accuse the government of sacrificing hard-won social welfare benefits for military spending.
Europe is in danger because of Russia's war in Ukraine and wars in the Middle East, and because ″the United States have added a form of uncertainty,″ Macron said. He also cited online disinformation campaigns by unnamed foreign governments and propaganda operations targeting children, in ″the screen era.″ Macron also ordered France's top military and defense officials to start a ″strategic dialogue″ with European partners about the role that France's nuclear arsenal could play in protecting Europe. France and Britain agreed recently to cooperate on nuclear arsenal issues.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hindu
an hour ago
- The Hindu
Russia says it downed 142 Ukrainian drones, including 27 over Moscow region
Russia's Defence Ministry and the mayor of Moscow said it had downed 142 drones overnight, including 27 over the Moscow region. The drones were reportedly shot down over a number regions in the European part of Russia, as well as over the Black Sea. The latest attacks included four drones headed toward the Russian capital, which were downed on Sunday morning, Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Telegram around 1000 local time (0700 GMT). Also Read | Russia pounds Kyiv with another major missile and drone attack According to Russia's aviation watchdog Rosaviatsia, four major airports serving Moscow - Sheremetyevo, Vnukovo, Domodedovo and Zhukovskiy - were affected, resulting in 134 flights being redirected. By 1000 Moscow time, only two airports remained closed to air traffic - Vnukovo in the Moscow region and Grabtsevo in the Kaluga region.
New Indian Express
2 hours ago
- New Indian Express
'Trump before Trump': Orban's illiberal model on show in Hungary
BUDAPEST: At the American embassy in Budapest, the atmosphere has changed since US President Donald Trump was sworn in six months ago. "No more public scoldings. No more moralising from podiums," the new charge d'affaires Robert Palladino told guests, including several Hungarian ministers, at this month's US Independence Day celebration. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban wants the European nation to serve as a laboratory of far-right ideas and an inspiration for Trump, whom the nationalist describes as "a great friend", and is hoping for a US presidential visit. Self-touted as a "Trump before Trump", Orban has transformed the national life of Hungary, an EU member and home to 9.5 million people, during his 15-year rule. In his drive to build what he has called an "illiberal state", he has been accused of silencing critical voices from the judiciary, academia, media and civil society, and of restricting minority rights. Trump's predecessor Joe Biden once accused him of "looking for dictatorship." 'Open-air museum' "Hungary is like an open-air museum, whose leader appears to have proved it is possible to bring back the so-called good old days," Zsolt Enyedi, a senior democracy researcher at Vienna-based Central European University, told AFP. "Illiberal ideas have been institutionalised," he added. Both Trump and Orban target minorities, including the LGBTQ community. "Orban realised there was not a strong public resistance to incitation against vulnerable groups... so he leveraged these to campaign," the researcher said. "Similarly, Trump deports people without going through due process as American conventions would dictate," Enyedi added.
News18
2 hours ago
- News18
What to know about trial of Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro
Rio de Janeiro, Jul 20 (AP) Brazil's former President Jair Bolsonaro will wear an electronic ankle monitor on orders from the Supreme Court, where he is on trial for allegedly masterminding a coup plot to remain in office despite his defeat in the 2022 election. The case received renewed attention after President Donald Trump directly tied a 50% tariff on Brazilian imported goods to Bolsonaro's judicial situation, which Trump called a ' witch hunt." The Supreme Court's order for Bolsonaro to wear an ankle monitor, among other restrictions, came after Federal Police and prosecutors said Bolsonaro is a flight risk. Authorities, listing multiple social media posts, also accused Bolsonaro of working with his son Eduardo to incite the United States to interfere in the trial and impose sanctions against Brazilian officials. On Friday, the US State Department announced visa restrictions on Brazilian judicial officials, prompting President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to condemn what he called the unacceptable interference of one country in another's justice system. Here's what you need to know about Bolsonaro's trial: The charges against Bolsonaro The prosecution accuses Bolsonaro of leading an armed criminal organization, attempting to stage a coup and attempting the violent abolition of the democratic rule of law, aggravated damage, and deterioration of listed heritage sites. A federal police investigation placed Bolsonaro at the top of a criminal organization that had been active since at least 2021. Police say that after Bolsonaro's loss to Lula, the organization conspired to overturn the election result. Part of that plot included a plan to kill Lula and a Supreme Court justice, the prosecution alleges. It also says that the Jan 8 riot when Bolsonaro supporters ransacked top government buildings a week after Lula took office was an attempt to force military intervention and oust the new president. Prosecutor-General Paulo Gonet says Bolsonaro's actions 'were not limited to a passive stance of resistance to defeat, but were a conscious effort to create an environment conducive to violence and a coup." In the court order unsealed Friday, Justice Alexandre de Moraes said Bolsonaro and his son may also have committed the crimes of coercion during a legal proceeding, obstruction of an investigation involving a criminal organization and attack on Brazil's sovereignty. What Bolsonaro says Bolsonaro has repeatedly denied the allegations and asserted that he's the target of political persecution. He has echoed Trump and called the trial a 'witch hunt." The far-right former leader has now been barred from using social media, but on Thursday, he said on X that 'those who challenge the system are being punished, silenced, and isolated." Regarding the restrictive measures carried out on Friday, Bolsonaro called them a 'supreme humiliation." 'I never thought about leaving Brazil, I never thought about going to an embassy, but the precautionary measures are because of that," he told journalists in Brasilia. Next steps After the prosecution called for a guilty verdict in its final allegations issued Tuesday, the defence will soon present its case, likely in the coming weeks. The panel of Supreme Court justices that opened the trial against Bolsonaro will vote on whether to convict or acquit him. Experts say a decision is expected before the end of the year. A guilty verdict on the coup plot charge carries a sentence of up to 12 years, which could, along with guilty verdicts on other charges, bring decades behind bars. But Antonio Jose Teixeira Martins, a law professor at Rio de Janeiro State University, said Bolsonaro could be detained even before there's a verdict. 'Whether this happens or not depends on how events unfold from now on, that is if these new measures prove sufficient to guarantee public order, the application of criminal law and prevent the risk of escape," Teixeira Martins said. Brazil's top electoral court has already banned Bolsonaro from running in elections until 2030 over abuse of power while in office and casting unfounded doubts on the country's electronic voting system. (AP) NSA NSA view comments Disclaimer: Comments reflect users' views, not News18's. Please keep discussions respectful and constructive. Abusive, defamatory, or illegal comments will be removed. News18 may disable any comment at its discretion. By posting, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
