On Monday’s broadcast of the Fox News Channel’s “Special Report,” French President Emmanuel Macron stated that President Donald Trump is correct that Europe has to do more on defense and France has to increase its spending, but “not because you ask us to do so and add more burden sharing. This is our interest” and Europe has “to take our part of the burden and we have to invest much more in our own security, first, to decrease your own burden. But, second, because this is our interest.”
Host Bret Baier asked, [relevant exchange begins around 10:40] “President Trump has said he wants NATO now — NATO allies to spend 5% of their GDP on defense. Your country, if you look at the graph, sits at about 2%. Will you boost defense spending in this environment?”
Macron answered, “This is what I — so, first, since I was elected in 2017, I passed two loads…and at the end of these two loads, we will have double our budget in France. As you mentioned, we are at 2%. We have to do much more. Your President is right.”
Macron added, “[W]hat I did, and this is my job, it’s to convince the majority of French people and the majority of parties to step up…and it’s not because you ask us to do so and add more burden sharing. This is our interest. And why, and this is important and this is something you have to realize as well, because Russia is still a threat. Russia has spent 10% of its GDP in defense, and it’s close to us and Russia is aggressive vis-à-vis Europe and we have, every week, cyberattacks. We had terrorist attacks. They have a sort of…war vis-à-vis Europe. And so, we have to step up our expenditures. So, in France, we will deliver increases, additional ones. I’m building consensus, and I will do my job. And the political forces are all very aware of the situation.”
Macron continued, “On top of that, we have to do much more at the European scale. I convened a meeting at the beginning of this week, and we will have the European Council, in the days to come, the sixth of March, and we will have some special announcement by the commission to increase, as well, shotgun financing. And what we have to do, we need innovative financing to have much more command investment as Europeans. Why? Because we have to take our part of the burden and we have to invest much more in our own security, first, to decrease your own burden. But, second, because this is our interest.”
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