President Emmanuel Macron said France will make a “new” and “historic” effort to increase defense spending to counter an acceleration of threats to freedom in Europe and the risk of outright war in the coming years.

Macron called for a 3.5 billion-euro hike in defense spending next year and for another 3 billion-euro boost in 2027.

Emmanuel Macron announced plans to double defence spending by 2027, as he warned Europe’s liberty is facing a “greater threat” than at any time since World War Two.He pledged to increase France’s military budget three years earlier in response to a complex geopolitical moment.