Macron urges European defence unity in final speech to French military

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PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron warned against nationalism and made a last plea for deeper European defense cooperation Monday in his final speech to the armed forces before leaving office next year.

“Wherever nationalism is pandered to, whether in France or elsewhere, we are misunderstanding our own history,” Macron said. “At a time when Europe is rearming, to think that building up capabilities separately is the way forward is absurd.”

This was Macron’s 10th and last address to the French military as commander-in-chief. His final term ends next year and he is barred from running again.

Far-right leader Marine Le Pen is currently leading in opinion polls ahead of next year’s election. The National Rally leader has made clear that France would significantly reduce its role in NATO if she wins.

Macron spent much of the 27-minute speech boasting about the steep increase in military spending under his presidency, which he vowed to safeguard.

“I set a clear and measurable target: to achieve a level of defense spending equivalent to 2 percent of national wealth by 2025,” Macron said, referring to his first speech to the French military in 2017. “That promise was kept.”

France’s military spending is expected to reach €64 billion in 2027, double the €32 billion spent in 2017, the year Macron was elected. This year, France is projected to spend 2.2 percent of GDP on defense , a large increase on previous spending but well short of the trajectory needed to reach the alliance’s 2035 target of 3.5 percent of GDP.

The increase has come amid a Europe-wide rearmament drive aimed at countering the threat from Russia, sending weapons to Ukraine and making the continent less reliant on a Donald Trump-led United States.

“Europe is becoming a power built on the states that make it up, one that respects their sovereign decisions but is prepared to defend itself and take action, united,” said Macron, who has long advocated a more muscular European defense posture.

In that same vein, he voiced “deep regret” over Berlin’s decision to abandon a plan to jointly build a next-generation fighter jet. The project stalled thanks to deep disagreements between France’s Dassault and Germany’s Airbus and Space over which company would take the lead.

Macron has led a rethink of French defense policy, beginning conversations with allies about inclusion in France’s nuclear umbrella and advocating for higher European defense spending and efforts to build up the continent’s military-industrial base.

France also plays a key role in NATO at a time when the U.S. is pulling back from its traditional security commitments.

Le Pen is skeptical of deploying French nuclear assets to other countries, saying earlier this year that any such move would have to be linked to countries buying French weapons.

She also wants to withdraw France from NATO’s integrated command. This means the country would remain a NATO member, but remove itself from the alliance’s unified military command system.

In 1966, Charles de Gaulle withdrew the country from NATO’s integrated military command. It rejoined in 2009 under President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Macron is a strong advocate of helping Ukraine; on Monday, France hosts the Coalition of the Willing — a loose alliance of more than 30 countries aiding Kyiv.

National Rally representatives have repeatedly voted against or abstained from measures supporting Ukraine both in the European Parliament and the French National Assembly, while stopping short of openly backing Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

Macron will underline his approach to defense and to Ukraine during Tuesday’s Bastille Day military parade.