French President Emmanuel Macron today expressed his disagreement with NATO discussing only financial issues, Agence France-Presse reported, quoted by BTA.
Macron said again that "for the coming years" France will stick to the goal of spending 3.5% of its GDP on defense annually. The United States, however, insists on defense spending of 5% of GDP.
"The commitment of an army is not measured by the money spent, but by the names carved on memorials and the people who fall" in battles, the French leader said at a press conference in the Albanian capital Tirana, where a meeting of leaders from the European political community was held yesterday.
"I do not like this debate between allies, in which the focus is only on numbers. "I know of many countries in our Europe that have lost many soldiers in various operations," Emmanuel Macron pointed out.
"They deserve respect, at least the same respect as those who spend a lot of money," Macron said, without specifying who he was referring to.
Macron also said that increasing France's defense spending to 3.5% of GDP would take time and would not happen "in six months".
AFP notes that France currently spends about 2% of its GDP on defense.
US President Donald Trump is urging NATO countries to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP.