The Trump administration’s rapidly-changing policies on Europe and Ukraine are boosting support for increased defence spending in France and the UK, new polls show.
An Ipsos poll of 1,000 people for La Tribune Dimanche, conducted Thursday, found that 68% are very supportive or tend to support boosting the defence budget in France, and 66% favour financing it via deficit spending.
In the UK, some 44% say such spending should be increased, even if it results in extra government borrowing, higher taxes, or less money for other public services, according to a separate Ipsos poll.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer have spearheaded European efforts to provide support for Ukraine in the face of a US pullback under Donald Trump, including committing to deploy troops to Ukraine if needed to ensure any peace with Russia holds.
Those efforts have provided a boost to the European leaders’ domestic standing. A poll by Ifop for Ouest-France showed Macron’s popularity rose to 31% in March, up seven points from the previous month and nearly at the level just before last year’s snap parliamentary election.
See also: Mark Carney wins Canada Liberal contest, will succeed Trudeau in days
Ipsos’s UK poll showed that support for Starmer has increased, with 30% saying he’s doing a good job, up by 7 percentage points from last month. A recent YouGov poll showed the premier overtaking hard-right rival Nigel Farage for the first time since October.
Cabinet ministers from France, the UK, Germany, Italy and Poland are scheduled to meet in Paris on Wednesday, a day after France hosts a meeting of European military chiefs of staff.
Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu reaffirmed France’s support for Ukraine in a La Tribune Dimanche interview, saying he wants to increase military spending.
See also: How can Asean countries mitigate against a turbulent world?
“A horizon of around EUR100 billion ($144.33 billion) a year would be a healthy weight for the French forces,” compared with a projected 2025 defence budget of EUR50.5 billion, Lecornu said.
While France has faced pressure to cut its deficit, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU will propose giving member countries more fiscal space for defence investments.
Lecornu also specified new military aid for Ukraine. “The idea is to continue to take older equipment out of the French army and give it to Ukraine,” he said. “I’m going to speed up these disposals,” including of AMX-10RC armored vehicles, he said.
Priorities for France’s armed forces include munitions and electronic warfare, Lecornu said.
Chart: Bloomberg
