President Emmanuel Macron said France will make a “new” and “historic” effort to increase defense spending to counter an acceleration of threats to freedom in Europe and the risk of outright war in the coming years.

France had aimed to double its defence budget from 2017 levels by 2030. However, Macron pledged to reach the target by 2027. A military budget that stood at 32 billion euros ($37.40 billion) in 2017 will rise to 64 billion euros by 2027, with an additional 3.5 billion euros allocated for next year and another 3 billion euros in 2027.