French President Emmanuel Macron said his country would build its first aircraft carrier in decades, the latest sign of Europe’s rapidly increasing rearmament.
Though the vessel will not be ready until 2038 at the earliest, Macron said it was necessary to boost France’s maritime capabilities: The country currently has only one carrier — commissioned in 1986 — in operation. Meanwhile Germany recently announced that it would seek to recruit 80,000 more soldiers, DW reported, part of a wider campaign to modernize its armed forces.
Berlin is planning to spend as much as 3.5% of its GDP on defense by 2029, in what would be “the country’s most ambitious military expansion since reunification,” Politico said.
