PARIS (Reuters) – Valérie Pécresse presented her defense program on Thursday, whose budget she wants to increase to more than 2% of GDP by 2030, also believing that the conflict in Ukraine calls for a “jump” in European defense matters.
Compliance with the current military programming law “makes it possible to reach a budget of 50 billion euros in 2025”, declared the candidate Les Républicains in the presidential election.
“I want to increase this budget to 65 billion in 2030, well beyond 2% of GDP, which means in total an additional effort of 108 billion,” she added to the press in Paris.
For the former minister, the war in Ukraine unleashed last week by Vladimir Putin calls for a “healthy leap” in terms of European defence.
Valérie Pécresse targeted without naming them the other contenders for the Elysée such as Eric Zemmour, Marine Le Pen and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, whom she reproached for past remarks favorable to Vladimir Poutine.
“All those who have defended his policy for years are irresponsible and have harmed our national interests,” she said.
The former minister of Nicolas Sarkozy also criticized the Minister of Economy Bruno Le Maire, who spoke of “economic war” against Russia, before regretting his remarks.
“When we talk about atomic weapons by evoking the exclusion of Russia from the Swift system or economic warfare which aims to destroy the Russian economy I say ‘be careful, let’s avoid postures which lead to escalation'”, put warns Valérie Pécresse, who also criticized President Emmanuel Macron for having declared NATO in a state of “brain death” in 2019.
The outgoing head of state, whose official candidacy for a second term is imminent, spoke to the French on Wednesday evening about the Ukrainian conflict.
Winner of the Republican primary at the end of 2021, Valérie Pécresse is in difficulty in the latest polls which give Emmanuel Macron a comfortable lead ahead of the representative of the National Rally Marine Le Pen.
Criticized after her February 13 meeting at the Zénith de Paris, victim of defections in her camp in favor of Eric Zemmour and Emmanuel Macron, Valérie Pécresse said her determination to continue her “path” towards the election, the first round of which will take place on April 10.
“A campaign is not a bet, it’s a long road, and this road I will walk until victory,” she said.
(Report Elizabeth Pineau, edited by Sophie Louet)