French president Emmanuel Macron has said Europe faces the biggest threat to its freedom since 1945 as he announced a huge increase in military spending.
Delivering the traditional presidential speech on the eve of Bastille Day, Macron revealed plans for an extra 6.5 billion euros in military spending in the next two years.
He said in his speech: ″Since 1945, freedom has never been so threatened, and never so seriously. To be free in this world we must be feared. To be feared we must be powerful.”
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Macron said that Russia’s war in Ukraine, wars in the Middle East and the “uncertainty” of the United States presented a danger to Europe that hasn’t been seen since World War Two, France24 reports.
As a result, he announced France will aim to spend 64 billion euros in annual defence spending in 2027, double the annual spending from Macron’s first year as president in 2017.
He insisted that the money for this extra defence spending could be found along with reducing France’s debt, but said everyone will “need to make sacrifices.”
“The nation needs you,” he said. “Every French man and woman must be cognisant of the threat around us.”
“We all need to make sacrifices. Freedom has a price tag.”
Specifically referencing the threat from Russia, Macron denounced “imperialist policies” and “annexing powers”.
He also called out Donald Trump‘s America, mentioning the “ups and downs in American support for Ukraine.”