France's armed forces chief resigns over Macron budget cuts

[webfact]

France's armed forces chief resigns over Macron budget cuts

By Simon Carraud

 

French President Emmanuel Macron (L) and Chief of the Defence Staff French Army General Pierre de Villiers (R) attend the traditional Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees in Paris, France, July 14, 2017. REUTERS/Charles Platiau

 

PARIS (Reuters) - France's head of the armed forces resigned on Wednesday after a heated dispute with Emmanuel Macron over defence budget cuts, bringing to a head an early test of the newly elected president's mettle.

 

In a statement, 60 year-old Pierre de Villiers said he had tried to maintain a French defence force with the ability to do an increasingly difficult job within the financial constraints imposed on it, but was no longer able to sustain that.

 

"In the current circumstances I see myself as no longer able to guarantee the robust defence force I believe is necessary to guarantee the protection of France and the French people, today and tomorrow, and to sustain the aims of our country," he said.

Macron had accepted his resignation, de Villiers added.

 

A fierce row broke out last week between the two men just two months after Macron was elected, and just as France prepared for the military pomp of a July 14 Bastille Day parade where Macron's U.S. counterpart Donald Trump was the guest of honour.

 

De Villiers, appearing before a closed-door hearing of parliamentarians - had used strong language to protest at the 850 million euro (752.36 million pounds) defence budget cut Macron was making as part of his efforts to rein in state spending.

 

"I won't let myself be fucked like that," he said according to two parliamentary sources. "I may be stupid, but I know when I am being had."

 

Macron had gone public with his rebuke. "I have made commitments, I am your boss," he said in a speech to dozens of top army officers and their families.

 

(Writing by Andrew Callus; Editing by Leigh Thomas and Sudip Kar-Gupta)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2017-07-19

[trogers]

Seems more funds are needed for migrants and bank bailouts of the EU...after Brexit...

[simple1]

2 hours ago, trogers said:

Seems more funds are needed for migrants and bank bailouts of the EU...after Brexit...

The financial cut is only for one year to meet debt level commitments with the EU. French defense spending is currently committed to increase to €34.2bn in 2018 / 19 (was €32bn in 2016) to eventually reach 2% of GDP by 2024 as committed to by NATO EU members.

Edited July 19, 2017 by simple1

[rufanuf]

1 hour ago, simple1 said:

The financial cut is only for one year to meet debt level commitments with the EU. French defense spending is currently committed to increase to €34.2bn in 2018 / 19 (was €32bn in 2016) to eventually reach 2% of GDP by 2024 as committed to by NATO EU members.

I love the way people post these kind of "statistics"....as though they were fact. Who really knows <deleted> is going on? Id put more faith in Thai Public Accounts

Edited July 19, 2017 by rufanuf

[Kiwiken]

Every one wants a safe Country but no one wants to pay for Armed Forces. When a National Emergency or conflict arises everyone says where are Our Defence Forces. And the answer comes back . Cut because of Budget constraints. Defence should be 2% of GDP but most Countries Politicians prefer to fritter this away on their Salaries and Pensions and overseas travel.

[simple1]

10 hours ago, rufanuf said:

I love the way people post these kind of "statistics"....as though they were fact. Who really knows <deleted> is going on? Id put more faith in Thai Public Accounts

My info sourced from French government media reporting. Naturally I agree budgets can change overtime, but IMO better info than right of centre propaganda posted continuously and 'liked' by some members, to which I was responding.

Edited July 19, 2017 by simple1

[lvr181]

Resignation of armed forces chief swiftly bought about a savings to the defense budget 

 

On a lighter note, at least the elected leader of the country is in charge and not the General!

[baboon]

3 hours ago, Kiwiken said:

Every one wants a safe Country but no one wants to pay for Armed Forces. When a National Emergency or conflict arises everyone says where are Our Defence Forces. And the answer comes back . Cut because of Budget constraints. Defence should be 2% of GDP but most Countries Politicians prefer to fritter this away on their Salaries and Pensions and overseas travel.

I know what you are saying. However when conflict arises, it seems it is usually us in the west starting it or poking our noses in and making the situation worse...

[rufanuf]

4 hours ago, simple1 said:

My info sourced from French government media reporting. Naturally I agree budgets can change overtime, but IMO better info than right of centre propaganda posted continuously and 'liked' by some members, to which I was responding.

At least some people still have a faith in "the governments" of European nations I guess. I lost mine years ago.

[Rancid]

Countries are often more enthusiastic about defense expenditure when they have a robust arms industry. Politicians oddly seem to get even more enthusiastic after a visit from lobbyists discussing their retirement options.

 

Only problem is how to justify all the money wasted on armaments, hence the need for an enemy that the state can claim to be defending against. Many suspect 9-11 was about creating such an enemy, also might explain some of the recent hysteria about Russia, hmm?

 

As to the French, they have some serious economic problems so no surprise there. Macron is after all a Rothschild banker and his boss might have suggested yet another bail-out on the way.

[Srikcir]

The defense paradigm for France is no longer the same as it was in WW2 and the Cold War. It now uses more of its troops domestically than internationally because of terrorism. The New Cold War by Russia is focused less on military hardware than on cyber, economic and propaganda warfare. France needs to modernize its defense ideology to broaden its approach to national security. And adhering to a Soviet Union type Cold War defense posture dependent on purely military hardware will be ineffective to counter external threats.

https://warontherocks.com/2017/05/the-ten-main-defense-challenges-facing-macrons-france/

Edited July 20, 2017 by Srikcir
add link

[Morch]

10 hours ago, Rancid said:

Countries are often more enthusiastic about defense expenditure when they have a robust arms industry. Politicians oddly seem to get even more enthusiastic after a visit from lobbyists discussing their retirement options.

 

Only problem is how to justify all the money wasted on armaments, hence the need for an enemy that the state can claim to be defending against. Many suspect 9-11 was about creating such an enemy, also might explain some of the recent hysteria about Russia, hmm?

 

As to the French, they have some serious economic problems so no surprise there. Macron is after all a Rothschild banker and his boss might have suggested yet another bail-out on the way.

 

Two conspiracy theories in one post, mmm indeed.

[YetAnother]

On 7/19/2017 at 3:16 PM, webfact said:

"I won't let myself be <deleted> like that," he said according to two parliamentary sources. "I may be stupid, but I know when I am being had."

well, the guy is direct; likely the exact right guy for the job