France’s parliament approves big boost in military spending, spurred by Ukraine war

PARIS (AP) — France’s parliament has approved a boost to military spending spurred on by Russia’s war in Ukraine. The new budget bill includes 413 billion euros ($450 billion) in defense spending through the rest of this decade, which is the most significant spending hike in half a century. President Emmanuel Macron pushed for the bigger budget to modernize France’s nuclear arsenal, augment intelligence spending and develop more remote-controlled weapons. The new military plan includes doubling the number of military reservists and reinforcing cyberdefense. It also includes increasing weapons production capacity both to help Ukraine and to keep the French military adequately supplied.