France calls for 'wartime economy' as the US shifts from Ukraine
When President Emmanuel Macron first declared that France had shifted to a "wartime economy" just months into Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, his martial rhetoric was met with widespread skepticism.
Back then, in June 2022, the European Union’s only nuclear power was still spending less than 2 percent of its GDP on defence – shy of a target set by NATO a decade earlier, News.Az reports citing France24.
France was also facing uncomfortable questions about its small share of arms deliveries to Ukraine compared to other Western nations, which in turn exposed shortages in its own military stocks.
Almost two years on, talk of a “wartime economy” is once again making headlines now that US President Donald Trump has turned his back on Ukraine, raising doubts about Washington’s commitment to NATO and the defence of Europe.
“We’re not there yet, but we need to be heading towards (a wartime economy),” French Finance Minister Eric Lombard told Le Parisien at the weekend, promising to unveil new budgetary measures to boost defence spending in the coming weeks.
“We must go faster and harder,” Lombard added in a separate interview with Franceinfo on Tuesday. “We will have to make greater efforts to protect ourselves, to build an economy in that protects peace, and to strengthen our defence within a European framework.”
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