Macron’s promised €3 billion for Ukraine creates a problem for France

The newspaper Le Monde (paid access) writes (French and in English) that military assistance of 3 billion euros per year for Ukraine, provided for in the agreement on guarantees of support signed on February 16, creates a headache for the country’s government: it is forced to cut costs on other items and resort to various accounting tricks, writes Air Force.

Back in February, the Minister of Finance announced the need to cut spending by 10 billion euros; Against this background, spending on Ukraine raises questions among voters, say deputies from the pro-presidential Revival party, which does not have a majority in parliament. The government also proposes to include in the €3 billion bill funds already allocated for various multilateral programs (such as the French-Dutch-Ukrainian program for the purchase of Caesar self-propelled guns) and contributions to the European fund designed to compensate EU member states for military supplies to Ukraine made on bilateral basis.

Ultimately, the newspaper writes, the government may be forced to introduce budget amendments to parliament. Opposition parties vote on principle against any government budget proposals, and one of the MPs from the far-left Rebellious France party, Bastien Lachaux, even told Le Monde that military aid to Ukraine in France could suffer the same fate as in the US, where it was stuck in the House representatives controlled by Republicans.

In France, there is a constitutional mechanism, provided for in Article 49.3, that allows laws to be passed without the consent of parliament – this is how, for example, Macron’s pension reform was adopted. However, this will be a blow to the president’s political image and will also lead to a vote of no confidence in the government.