China News Agency, Paris, January 20 (Reporter Li Yang) French President Macron delivered the French annual defense policy speech on January 20 local time, saying that France will increase defense spending and promote military transformation.
Macron delivered the speech at an air force base in southwestern France that day.
He said that France will increase defense spending, proposing a defense budget of 413 billion euros from 2024 to 2030.
He said this would mean doubling France's defense budget by 2030 compared to when he took office in 2017.
Agence France-Presse stated that French defense expenditure from 2019 to 2025 will be 295 billion euros.
Macron said that increasing defense spending aims to ensure France's freedom, security and prosperity as well as France's status in the world.
He further pointed out that an important goal of the defense budget from 2024 to 2030 is to promote military transformation in order to make the French army "adapt to the possibility of high-intensity conflict."
He said the 413 billion euro military budget would bring about "deep changes" in the French military that would be "irreversible".
"We have to do more, we have to do better," he stressed.
Macron said France would be ready for the challenges of this century.
Nations must transform their armed forces to meet the demands of warfare.
He also mentioned the threat of future "hybrid warfare," cyberattacks on critical infrastructure and the ongoing threat of terrorism, among others.
In his speech, Macron called for the modernization of France's nuclear weapons, saying the French military strategy should strengthen France's role as an independent global power.
He also said France would boost its response to cyberattacks and increase budgets for things like drones and military intelligence.
According to Agence France-Presse, the relevant defense budget plan will be sent to the French Parliament for a vote this summer.
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