French President Emmanuel Macron has announced an increase in the annual defense budget to 64 billion euros ($75 billion) by 2027, instead of 2029 as previously planned, Bloomberg reports.
This will double the country's annual defense budget compared to when Emmanuel Macron took office in 2017. To implement the plan, an additional €3.5 billion will be needed next year and another €3.2 billion the year after.
The French leader noted that the country will make "new" and "historic" efforts to increase defense spending to counter the growing threats to freedom in Europe and the risk of open war in the coming years.
He listed various threats, from terrorism to electronic warfare and drone warfare. He also emphasized the constant threat from Russia, which he believed Europe must overcome to ensure peace.
"Never since 1945 has freedom been so threatened, and never has peace on our continent depended so much on the decisions we take today... Let’s put it simply: To be free in this world, you need to be feared, and to be feared you need to be powerful," said Emmanuel Macron.
By the way, according to estimates by the independent international institute SIPRI in April 2025, Ukraine's military spending in 2024 compared to 2023 increased by 2.9%, to $64.7 billion. This is equivalent to 43% of Russia's military spending and 54% of the total spending of the Ukrainian government.