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Brussels, Belgium
Monsieur le Haut-Commissaire,
President Charles Michel,
Ladies and gentlemen,
Chers invités,
Thank you for joining us in Brussels.
Today I will speak about the larger Francophone neighbour across the border.
France.
France is a country whose strategic thinking has always shaped Europe’s security.
France has never been a follower in defence; it has been a foundation.
And once again, France is showing leadership.
The Prime Minister has reaffirmed that the annual €3 billion defence budget increase will go ahead in 2026 – alongside €3.5 billion pledged by the President earlier this year.
And with €11 billion in EU loans under the new SAFE instrument, France is now placing defence at the top of its agenda.
That is a strong signal.
To Europe.
To NATO.
And to France’s own citizens.
But stability of spending is not enough.
It must be matched by stability of purpose — and by the support of the people who ultimately pay for and depend on that defence.
Citizens.
Citizens support for defence investment will my central theme today.
To make that case, I will focus on three points:
First, why defending democracy requires investment.
Second, why that investment must be understood and shared by citizens.
And third, how we can renew the link between defence and democracy itself.
First: Defending democracy requires investment
And without defending democracy, there will be no democracy.
Globally, today – we face an axis of autocracies.
Autocracies such as Russia.
Which, in recent weeks, has deployed hybrid attacks against our infrastructure.
Right here in the European Union.
You will have heard of the drones mysteriously appearing over Copenhagen or even the balloons in Lithuania closing airspace.
Cleary investment in defence is no longer optional; it is the price of peace and the condition of freedom.
The Hague Summit set a clear benchmark: allies should reach 5 percent of GDP for defence by 2035.
That will not be easy, especially amid fiscal constraints and social pressures. Some countries like Spain, hesitate.
But as we have learned before, security delayed is security denied.
France’s Military Programming Law — the Loi de programmation militaire — already sets a strong course: an average rise of €3.3 billion per year to reach €67 billion by 2030.
Yet the world is moving faster than those timelines.
As Russia doubles its war production and China tests our resolve, Europe must be ready to accelerate.
Defence is not simply about deterring conflict.
It is about protecting sovereignty in a world where space, cyberspace, and information have become battlefields.
It means building strategic stockpiles, strengthening industrial autonomy, and mastering disruptive technologies — from drones to AI to secure satellite systems.
Let us remember: military superiority today depends on technological sovereignty tomorrow.
If Europe cannot produce what it needs, others will race ahead.
That brings me to my second point.
Second: Investment must be understood and shared by citizens
France is not short of courage or capability.
But like many democracies, it faces a quieter challenge — the challenge of consent.
And like many European nations, the rise of populism.
Defence spending competes with every other public priority.
And citizens will not support what they do not understand.
Recent polls tell us only one in four French citizens strongly supports increased defence budgets.
Only about the same share would be ready to serve in an emergency.
Those numbers are not a sign of weakness — they are a warning about disconnection.
If people see defence as a distant elite concern, they will resist it.
But if they see it as a collective insurance to protect their own families, they will embrace it.
That requires transparency, education, and honest communication.
And we must get citizens involved, as practically as possible.
In Denmark, for example, we have adopted a culture of preparedness — teaching citizens that security begins at home.
Sweden has revived its civil-defence handbook, advising every household what to do in a crisis.
In the Nordics, there is no taboo about having 72 hours of emergency supplies ready.
Such citizen readiness turns them into participants.
We must Europeanise this mentality.
It makes them feel they themselves can make a difference.
France could lead Europe in doing the same — not by militarising society, but by democratising security.
History proves that strong defence and social cohesion are not opposites.
During the Cold War, France devoted 4 to 5 percent of GDP to defence while expanding prosperity, creating industries, and building national pride.
Those investments gave birth to capabilities — nuclear deterrence, submarines, aerospace — that still serve the Republic today.
So let us not frame defence as a drain, but as an investment in peace, technology, and sovereignty.
Which leads to my third and final point.
Third: Renewing the link between defence and democracy
If investment is the hardware of security, citizen support is the software.
Without it, even the best-funded defence will struggle to endure.
We must give citizens not only a reason to believe, but a role to play.
That starts with rebuilding a common narrative — a sense that Europe’s defence is a collective good, not a distant expense.
The Cold War was won not only by missiles, but by meaning — by the conviction that freedom was worth the sacrifice.
Today, we need that same clarity of purpose.
First, we need open communication.
About the threats and hybrid attacks we face and the progress we make — from protecting our skies to strengthening cyber resilience.
If it’s the Russians sending drones into our airspace, we have to call them out publicly.
People defend what they understand.
Second, defence must touch daily life in visible ways:
in schools, through education on resilience and digital security;
in communities, through voluntary service and local preparedness initiatives.
This is how we turn awareness into ownership.
Finally, we must show the civilian benefits of defence investment.
Military research drives innovation that shapes the wider economy — from GPS to the internet, from composite materials to satellite imaging.
Every euro invested in defence technology is also a euro invested in European competitiveness.
France’s vibrant defence industry already demonstrates this dual benefit — supporting jobs, exports, and technological leadership.
And because security in the 21st century cannot stop at national borders, France must continue to drive a European defence strategy — one based on interoperability, joint procurement, and industrial cooperation.
But the key will be speed — because history punishes hesitation.
Ladies and gentlemen,
The lesson of our time is simple:
Democracy cannot survive on goodwill alone; it must be defended — by budgets, by industries, and above all, by citizens.
France has the strategy.
It has the industry.
And it has the history to lead.
Now the task is to bring the people with us — to make them not spectators of security, but shareholders in it.
Thank you very much.
For more information, please contact our Senior Director for Communications, Daniel Puglisi, at dpu@rasmussenglobal.com