Macron Requests More Defense Funds, Saying ‘One Must Be Feared’

French President Emmanuel Macron called for additional military spending to confront mounting global threats even as uncertainty remains over France’s budget.

The requested funding would provide €36 billion ($42 billion) in additional resources for a “change of scale” in France’s military through 2030, Macron said Thursday in an annual speech to the armed forces. Speaking from an airbase in Istres, Southern France, he said the total includes some €3.5 billion earmarked for this year.