French Defense Minister: France could raise defense budget by 3 bln euros

PARIS, July 10. /TASS/. France could boost its defense budget by 3 bln euros next year, French Defense Minister Sebastien Lecornu said in an interview to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper that came out on Sunday.

“I confirm the intention of the government to raise the 2023 defense budget by 3 billion euros. That has been submitted to the parliament for a discussion,” he said.

The minister said that the ministry intends to evaluate the experience gained from the situation in Ukraine and “if necessary, make additional adjustments” to the defense budget.

Lecornu said, “President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron instructed us, together with the Chief of the General Staff of the French Armed Forces, to assess the state of our defense industry.”

According to the Defense Ministry, spending on the country’s arms modernization program from 2019 to 2025 was planned to reach 295 billion euros. On June 13, Macron ordered a revision of these expenses in the context of the conflict in Ukraine. The head of state said that the current program didn’t take into account the possibility of a “high-intensity war.”