Macron: EU needs ‘hundreds of billions’ in defense spending as US pivots away | French president’s urging comes ahead of Thursday’s special EU summit focused on defense, as Trump signals a friendlier approach to Moscow and disengagement from Europe

> French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday urged EU member states to agree on “massive, common funding” to unlock investments of hundreds of billions of euros for European defense and security.

> “We will give a mandate to the European Commission to define our capacity needs for a common defense,” Macron said in an interview published in several French newspapers on Sunday. “This massive funding probably reaches hundreds of billions of euros,” he said.

> His comments come ahead of a special EU summit set for Thursday that will be focused on defense.

[Important context](https://www.bruegel.org/analysis/defending-europe-without-us-first-estimates-what-needed):

> Europe could need 300,000 more troops and an annual defence spending hike of at least €250 billion in the short term to deter Russian aggression

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