France has unveiled plans to boost defence spending by more than a third between 2017 and 2025 in an “unprecedented effort” to meet Nato commitments and modernise its army and nuclear deterrent. That was reported by telegraph.co.uk.
The French government unveiled a bill that increases spending on the armed forces from 34.2 billion euros ($42 billion) in 2018 to 50 billion euros in 2025, taking the defence budget from 1.82 percent of GDP currently to a NATO target of two percent.
Nuclear-armed France and Britain are the biggest military powers in the European Union.
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French president Emmanuel Macron has reversed a decade of defence budget cuts by approving nearly €300bn in spending for the military by 2025, as France combats Islamist terror groups at home and abroad.
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The decision, announced on Thursday, fulfils Mr Macron’s campaign promise to lift defence spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product, from 1.7 per cent last year. The budget increase comes amid rising geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and pressure on Nato members from US President Donald Trump to inject more funds into their armed forces.
