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BRUSSELS (Reuters) – French Finance Minister Eric Lombard emphasized on Monday that European nations must improve their cooperation in financing defense amid increasing calls for enhanced defense budgets across Europe.
Lombard stated to reporters that for European Union countries to genuinely pursue strategic autonomy, they must first raise their defense expenditures.
“France is contributing its fair share, and we believe that this responsibility should be distributed more evenly among member states,” he remarked during his arrival for a meeting with counterparts from the euro area.
With an annual defense budget of approximately 60 billion euros ($63 billion), France allocates 2% of its gross domestic product to defense, adhering to NATO guidelines.
NATO data shows that countries such as Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia, and Spain all spend below the 2% target.
($1 = 0.9549 euros)
(Reporting by Thomas Leigh; Editing by Makini Brice and Sharon Singleton)
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