French President Emmanuel Macron on Monday called for a boost to defence budgets following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, saying France was now on a "war economy" footing, reports FRANCE 24.
Speaking at Eurosatory, a weapons industry fair, Macron said Europe needed "a much larger defence industry" to avoid relying on suppliers elsewhere for its equipment needs.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, France "has entered into a war economy in which I believe we will find ourselves for a long time".
Macron said he had asked the defence ministry and armed forces chiefs of staff to adjust a six-year framework defence spending plan running to 2025 to the new geopolitical situation, to "match the means to the threats".
Even before Ukraine, French military spending had gradually increased since Macron came to power in 2017 to reach 41 billion euros ($43 billion) this year, and is currently scheduled to hit 50 billion euros in 2025.