French President Emmanuel Macron said his country stands “ready to fight” to defend freedom and justice, “even at the cost of our blood”. The message came during his speech to the armed forces as part of the ongoing summit of the Coalition of the Willing People for Ukraine in Paris. “An additional effort of €36 billion is therefore planned for the period 2026-2030,” he also said, adding that the main priorities will be increasing ammunition stocks and strengthening operational readiness.
Mr Macron said: “The message we send to the world is this: Yes, peace is our goal. Yes, we cherish freedom and justice. And yes, we stand ready to fight to defend them always, even at the cost of our blood if necessary. This price of blood was paid by our French soldiers, who died for France, wounded in body or soul. And I want to reiterate the nation’s respect for its soldiers who died for France. Our affection goes out to the bereaved families with whom I was just a moment ago, before joining you, to our wounded, and to all their families.”
The French President also said: “Wherever nationalism is pandered to, in France or elsewhere, our history is misunderstood. Patriotism, yes; nationalism, never. And at a time when Europe is rearming, consider that accumulating capabilities and a sense of history separately is absurd.
“We must build as Europeans and maintain our own specificities, our decision-making processes, our intervention forces, our credibility. But let us not allow history to repeat itself.”
The UK and France has been leaders in the Coalition, which aims to keep supporting the war-torn eastern European country.
This comes as UK and EU have jointly sanctioned alleged hackers linked to Russia as Britain’s cybersecurity service urged critical sectors to strengthen their online defences against the threat from Moscow.
The coalition of the willing’s meeting is being attended also by Sir Keir Starmer, in what is going to be his last week as Prime Minister.
While in France, he is expected to join Bastille Day events on Tuesday.
