Emmanuel Macron wants to strengthen military as US pulls back from Europe but must tackle steep borrowing costs

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France has racked up a mountain of national debt to reach a debt-to-GDP ratio of 113 per cent last year, behind only Greece and Italy. The budget deficit was also among the highest at 5.8 per cent of GDP at the end of 2024, far higher than the EU limit of 3 per cent.

  • FundMECFS@lemmy.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    71·
    20 days ago

    If your definition of “hard choices” involves coercing people to die and refusing them medical care you will lose the proxy war against Russia.

    The reason far right pro-Russia parties are surging is because the lower classes have been left behind. They exploit the lower class anger.

    If your answer to that is more austerity, more cutting welfare, you will lose.

    I say this as someone who’se voluneered extensively for Ukranian causes. And is very aware of the threat neo-facist Russia poses. I have two friends who’ve died in the war.

    • Hotznplotzn@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
      51·
      20 days ago

      No one has said that France or any other country should spent less on welfare. We need both.

      Addition:

      Defence or Welfare? Europe Can Afford Both, and Must

      Framing welfare against defence is a politically damaging proposition. It is easy to see how this could be exploited by anti-EU populists and Europe’s adversaries. President Putin, undoubtedly, would welcome such a division. But the entire narrative that Europe faces a supposedly unavoidable choice between protecting its social model and bolstering its defences is not only politically unfortunate; it is empirically unfounded […]

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