File Photo: French government spokesman Christophe Castaner (Reuters)
French President Emmanuel Macron, whose armed forces chief quit on Wednesday in a row over short-term spending cuts, confirmed after naming a replacement that he still intended to raise the defence budget over time, a government spokesman said.
Spokesman Christophe Castaner said resigning General Pierre de Villiers would be replaced within 24 hours by General Francois Lecointre, a seasoned fighter born in 1962.
Macron, he said, had named Lecointre and also told ministers at a weekly cabinet meeting that he was still aiming to raise the defence budget to 2 percent of gross domestic product by 2025 despite cutbacks in 2017.
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